Ephesians 1:3-6 The Blessing of the Chosen
Possibly the longest sentence in the Bible (maybe even any piece of popular literature), this series of blessings found in verses 3-14 is considered one long sentence in the original Greek. In the Bible we hear about so many blessings that our eyes might gloss over and not mentally process what is being said or know what is going on. This blessing appears to be divided into three tenses, past (verses 3-6), present (verses 7-10) and future (verses 11-14). In this blessing note how Paul refers to all three members of the Godhead (also known as the Trinity, a concept clearly taught in Scripture, although the Bible never uses that word).
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
The first part of this long blessing points firmly towards what God has done for us. His love for us made salvation possible. He has also given us every Spiritual blessing, plus He chose us to be His adopted children! Paul wrote, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32, ESV) He has indeed given us all things!
A ‘blessing’ can refer to a special favor or some other benefit. When a blessing is pronounced, it is invoking God’s favor on someone, something or an event. The term ‘blessed’ can be defined several ways, here the Greek it implies a message of praise. Blessings are not to be confused with prayers, although a blessing can certainly be a component of a prayer and a prayer could be part of a blessing. Many have difficulty with the concept of blessing God, since He is the source of blessings, however we can bless God through our obedience, praise, honor and worship. A common way for the epistle writers to bless God was to offer recognition of His power and glory. The Greek term for ‘glory’ is doxa, which is the root word for our English word ‘doxology’.
In James 1:17 we read, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (ESV), just like Paul, James recognizes the source of these blessings is God the Father and we Christians are the ones receiving those Spiritual blessings (See also Galatians 3:9-13), namely everything we need for salvation and much more. Even thought we begin to receive blessings immediately and we can live a truly blessed life now, we need to remember that God is not promising us a carefree life, a problem-free life, a pain-free life or even an easy life, but He is always there with you, always! (See Matthew 28:20) Paul says these blessings will occur in the heavenly places. The Greek word epouranios (translated here as ‘heavenly’), depending on context, can be used to refer to the sky (like where birds fly), space (where celestial bodies like the planets and Sun reside) and to the heaven where Jesus and His Father reside. In this case Paul is referring to heaven with Jesus. For examples of some of the blessings God has already given to us, we read in Romans 5:4-5, that we are blessed with God’s love and hope; in John 14:27, we are offered peace; in John 15:11, Jesus offers us the fullness of joy and in Philippians 4:13, Paul tells us that God gives us the strength to do all things.
The subject of election (also known as predestination) is one of the more divisive topics in Christianity today. The term in both the Greek and English languages means simply that something was determined beforehand or predetermined. This raises several questions regarding our salvation through Jesus. Was our destiny determined before we were born? Did we have any part in deciding whether or not to follow Jesus? Is God’s promise of salvation limited to only a certain number of people? How did God choose those that were selected? Many well-educated theologians have offered a wide variety of answers to these questions, everything from limited atonement (salvation available to only a chosen few) to absolute free will (a person decides completely on their own whether or not to accept the gift of salvation). It is doubtful that we are going to solve this argument anytime soon, especially in this quick review, however to understand more fully the idea around election we need to look at Romans 8:29-30 (provided below).
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30, ESV)
Just like an expert craftsman who first builds a strong foundation and then builds on that foundation many floors and as each floor is complete one can see more clearly what’s being built, Paul begins with a core word and then adds words to help clarify a point or offer greater understanding. Paul uses this “reverse cascade” approach in several of his writings.
The controversial word in this case is the Greek word Paul used in verse five, poorizō translated here as ‘predestined.’ But Paul first builds his ‘foundation’ with the core word ‘foreknew’ meaning God knew something about these people before He predestined them, then justified them and then ultimately glorified them. What did He know? There’s an easy answer to that question and that is literally ‘everything’! Could God, who is outside of time (dwelling in eternity, read Isaiah 57:15), know all that ever was and will be? Absolutely! Did He select some people and not others? Perhaps, however knowing all things He would know who would and who would not accept His free offer of salvation as we see that everyone is invited (read 1 Timothy 2:1-6; 2 Peter 3:9) and we also see that the Apostle John wrote repeatedly strongly desiring and hoping all people would believe and be saved (read John 3:15-16; 20:30-31 and 1 John 5:13). In any case, regardless of how you answer these questions, the Bible teaches that God chose us. Do not let any anything hold you back from appreciating what Paul is writing about here.
Paul tells us in verse four that God chose us in order that we might be holy and blameless. If we are blameless (without sin in God’s eyes) we can be holy, separated from the world so that we can do what God has called us to do. We were chosen before the foundation of the world, before the beginning of time. (See Predestination and Election under Christian Topics for an in-depth review)
The result of God’s election of us is sonship (read Romans 8:15-17), Paul tells us that we become the adopted children of God. Before our adoption we were sons of Adam, the children of man. Through Jesus’ victory on the cross and accepting the free offer for salvation, we have become children of God, coheirs with Christ. Since Biblical adoption grants the adopted children the same rights and privileges as a direct descendant, we will inherit not only heaven but things beyond our comprehension, coheirs with Jesus, no other word can express this other than…wow!
When we think about why God would provide salvation for us flawed sinful human beings, the Bible provides an often overwhelming reason that should humble each of us, God provided our salvation because He loves us. His love for us is again beyond human comprehension (See also Deuteronomy 7:8; John 3:16; Ephesians 2:4-5 and 2 Timothy 1:9). In addition, we see in verse six that Paul may be offering another potential reason and that is to bring glory to Him! Everything we do can and should bring glory to Him (See also Philippians 2:13, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 10:31). What is our response to God’s election of us (verse 6), we are to praise Him that we are indeed saved!
With the exception of possibly of the book of 1 Thessalonians, Paul uses the Greek word kata a number of times in each of his epistles. He used it 24 times in this epistle alone! The word means, ‘down’ or “coming down from,” generally a motion from being higher to a lower location. The word is miscellaneously translated from ‘according’ (as it is here in verse five) to ‘following’ and ‘through’ (and many others depending on context). Unfortunately that doesn’t really help in understanding how Paul typically uses the word. Paul uses it in a way that describes how someone might ask another person for something ‘according’ to their ability to provide. For example one would not seriously ask a person for a loan if they did not have the money. However, if they did have the funds available (the higher) they could pay (to the lower) according to their ability. In verse five, Paul is saying that according to His will (the higher or in God’s case, a never-ending supply of grace and love) it brought Him great pleasure to bring us (the recipients, the lower) to Himself. We can also see this as a contrast between God’s inexhaustible provision compared to our finite and extremely limited need (God is eternal, we, on the other hand, are like withering grass, see Psalm 103:15-16; Isaiah 40:6-8 and 1 Peter 1:22-25).
Who are the ‘Beloved’ at the end of verse six? (read Matthew 3:17; John 14:21; Colossians 1:13 and Romans 1:7) The term ‘beloved’ refers to someone being loved by another. The Father often referred to His Son as His Beloved (as in the example of Matthew 3:17). However since we have been saved by what Jesus did for us and that we are now one with Him, we are also beloved!