Category Archives: Ephesians

Ephesians 2:7

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so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Verse 7 gives us the reason for all of what has been said. God because of His mercy and love, saved us, made us alive, and seated us in heaven with Christ.

What is that reason? So that in the coming ages, God might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

He has done all that He has done to demonstrate the glory of His grace. He wants all the world to see what kind of God He is in His eagerness to pay for sin and forgive those who are in rebellion against Him. When we get to Ephesians 3:10 we find that this display will be made by the church. The recipients of this display of God’s grace will be not only to people, but to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. And this has been His plan for all eternity. It is basically the reason He created the world in the first place.

To put it simply, God’s plan was to display the glory of His grace, by forgiving and adopting people into His family as sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ. And don’t forget, grace means His doing this was totally unrelated to anything good we may have done, and indeed, in spite of our rebellion.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 3:19 PM October 28, 2020.

Ephesians 2:6

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and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Verse 6 continues the sentence and the thought from verse 5. By grace, God made us alive with Christ. What else did He do? He raised us up with Him. You see, because we as believers are in Christ, His history becomes our history. Our identity is in Him. So, when He died, we died. And when He was raised, we were raised.

Paul says in Colossians 3:1, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above.”

In Romans 6:10-11 Paul describes how Christ died to sin, but is alive to God. In verse 11 he tells us that we also must reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God IN Christ Jesus. There you have the same truth. IN Christ Jesus. We are in Him and thus we are on the resurrection side of things.

Back to Ephesians 2:6. We are also seated with him in the heavenly places. Christ is seated in heaven at the right hand of God the Father. And we also have been raised with Christ and are seated with Him in heaven. It’s as good as done as far as God is concerned. The church is the body of Christ, and believers are members of His body. Our identity is in Christ.

Look at Colossians 3:1-4 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Do you see how closely connected your life is with His? When He appears, you appear. If you are a believer, you are one with Christ.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 3:15 PM October 28, 2020.

Ephesians 2:4-5

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But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

But God! We were by nature the children of wrath. We once lived in the passions of our flesh. But God!

In the next couple of verses, Paul is going to describe what God has done for us in spite of our natural rebellion. But what will be the motive for what He does? First, He is rich in mercy. Mercy is the willingness to forgo the punishment that would normally be required. He pities us and has mercy on us. And, God is rich in mercy. There is no slack in God’s use of His mercy. It is bountiful and abundant.

And second, because He has loved us. He sent His only Son to pay the penalty that we should have been required to pay. Because of this tremendous, unmerited love, what did He do?

We’ll include verse 5 here.

He made us alive together with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. Verse 1 told us that we were dead. Even though we were dead and had no spiritual life in us, God made us alive together with Christ. Then he emphasizes the motive: By grace you have been saved.

We were dead sinners, hating God, having no life in us, not seeking after God, all our righteousness being as filthy rags. In that condition, God made us alive when He made Christ alive. We were given life together with Him. Let that sink in.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 3:10 PM October 28, 2020.

Ephesians 2:3

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Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Ephesians

Ephesians 2:3

We used to live as one of those sons of disobedience. he says in verse 3 that we all once lived among them. We were just like them.

What was our character? It was to live according to the passions of our flesh. Passions are lusts or strong desires that drive us to do things. Lusts of the flesh are strong desires that come from our physical bodies. John writes that the things of this world involve the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.

In verse 3 here Paul explains that living in the passions of our flesh involves the carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. We do what we want. Whatever comes naturally based on the desires of the body, that is what we do. There’s not much thinking and virtually no self-control. If it feels good, do it! That’s the philosophy of the age we live in, but it has been the philosophy of the human race since the fall, and we were just like that.

Paul goes on to say that we were by nature children of wrath just like everyone else. Our nature is evil. It is in-born. The wrath of God rests upon all human beings because of their natural rebellion against God and because of the strong desire to do what we want to do without considering God or others.

Everyone is like that from birth onward. Just like they, we also were by nature children of wrath. We are no better.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:00 PM October 26, 2020.

Ephesians 2:2

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in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Paul says that we once walked in this way. Again he’s speaking about the past. When we trust in Christ and believe on Him, this life pattern becomes our past pattern. But it’s important to realize what that condition was like, because for those of us who were saved early in our lives, we tend to become smug and judgmental toward those we consider to be worse sinners than we are.

So, what was our walk like? It was according to the course of this world. The word for course is age or eon. We lived the way the world has always lived. There is a course or pattern to the way human beings have lived since the fall, and we ourselves also were like that.

We followed the prince of the power of the air. Who is that? The spirit that now is at work in the sons of disobedience. He, of course, is referring to Satan or the devil. We followed his leadership in the way we ordered our lives.

This spirit is even now at work in the sons of disobedience. That is who we used to follow, but no more! Having been saved and rescued out of Satan’s grasp, we no longer follow him.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:43 AM October 22, 2020.

Ephesians 2:1

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And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.

Now Paul turns his attention to us. He says, “And you.” Who is he talking to? He says you who were dead in the trespasses and sins. That includes all of us, doesn’t it?

He uses the past tense of dead, which means we were dead, but are no longer dead. According to the Bible, we are born dead, spiritually dead.

Trespasses have to do with moral failures great or small. We are sinners. We fail to live up to the holy standards of our creator and so we are dead in them.

Sins has to do with our offenses against God and the resulting guilt. To what degree were we involved in trespasses and sins? How bad were are moral failures and offenses against a holy, righteous, and loving God? For that, we need to go on to verse 2 next time.

But in the middle of this verse is the phrase “He made alive.” Some translations don’t include this phrase but the meaning is still there when we get to verse 5. We’ll deal more with it when we get there, but for now the truth is stated that even though we were dead, God made us alive. He is the life-giving God.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 5:03 PM October 18, 2020.

Ephesians 1:23

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And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Christ is the head of the church, which is His body. The church is an organism and not an organization. The life of the church is the Spirit of God at work through the various members functioning according to the gifts God has given them. Jesus is the head, the director, the mind behind all that takes place.

The next phrase is astounding to me. The church, the body of Christ, is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. That means that, in some sense, the church is the fullness of God! That means that if you are a Christian, you are a member of the body of Christ, and, as such, you are part of the fullness of God, because God, through His Spirit, indwells everyone of us. Amazing, isn’t it?

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 4:33 PM October 18, 2020.

Ephesians 1:22

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And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.

Besides having described the place of dominion and authority to which Christ has ascended, Paul writes that God has put everything under Jesus’ feet. That means Jesus Christ is the supreme ruler of the universe. Everything means everything.

1 Corinthians 15:27 tells us that when he says all things were put under His feet, the one who did this is excepted. That means that God the Father, who placed everything under Jesus’ feet, did not put Himself under His feet. He is the exception.

Paul goes on further to say that God made Jesus the head over everything to the church which is His body. Jesus Christ is the head of the church. The pastor is not, and the people are not. Jesus is the head. That means He is the one who tells us what the church ought to be like, how it should function, what should be included or excluded, etc.

I hear many people say, “Here’s what I would like to see in the church.” Or “I need to find a church that is more to my liking.” We are not the ones in charge. If a church isn’t functioning the way God has said it should function, then we might have to leave and go to a different assembly. But, then the statement wouldn’t be, “I don’t like what they are doing,” but rather, “this church isn’t functioning the way God has ordained, and therefore, I am going to seek a different place to worship.”

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 8:40 PM October 14, 2020.

Ephesians 1:19-21

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And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Paul’s prayer continues in verse 19 and continues into verses 20 and 21. I think it would be best if we consider the entire section in this piece, so it might be longer than some of the others.

Paul is praying that since our eyes have been opened, we may know several things. Verse 19 identifies one of those things as the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. It is not just the greatness of His power, but the exceeding or surpassing greatness. These are superlative descriptions.

He then goes on to explain what he means by this by using the word “according.” How surpassing is this power, Paul? It is the same kind of power that God worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. Is that the kind of power, Paul? No. Paul says, “and” seated Jesus at His right hand in the heavenly places. How far up is that, Paul? The answer? Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named. But that is not all. Not just every name now, but above every name that ever has existed or ever will existed.

That is the kind of power that is working in every believer in Christ. This is not just for those who are “super saints.” This power is directed toward all of us who believe!

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 11:45 AM October 12, 2020.

Ephesians 1:18

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having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Paul’s prayer continues in verse 18. This verse begins with the participle phrase “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened.” Being enlightened is a passive verb. Our hearts are enlightened from the outside. Somebody enlightened them. Someone opened our eyes and turned the lights on for us. It is obviously God that has done this.

This enlightening has occurred so that we might know the hope to which God has called us. When our physical eyes are opened to something, we can see objects, examine them and, not just know that they are there, but become acquainted and understand their characteristics. It is the same way here. Paul is not saying that we just know that we have hope. We can see it, feel it, and appreciate it.

Hope in this sense is not “hope so” hope. It is a future promise that we are looking forward to with anticipation. So, God has opened the eyes of our hearts so that we would know that future which God has promised to us. He has called us to have that hope.

The second thing in this verse that He wants us to know is the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints. The inheritance is described as His inheritance. What I think that means is that we are Jesus’ inheritance. Hebrews 7:13 quotes Jesus as saying “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” And in John 17:6, Jesus speaks of the men God has given Him. So, we Christians have been given to Christ by God, and I think that is the glorious inheritance which Jesus is receiving.

What does that do to our appreciation for the work of God when we consider the fact that Jesus wants us to know that He considers the inheritance He is receiving glorious?

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 11:19 AM October 12, 2020.