Ephesians 1.11-The Fifth Blessing the Church Age Believer Appropriated Through the Spirit at Justification Related to the Work of Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday April 4, 2023
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 1:11-The Fifth Blessing the Church Age Believer Appropriated Through the Spirit at Justification Related to the Work of Christ
Lesson # 31
Ephesians 1:3 The God, namely the Father of the Lord ruling over us, who is Jesus Christ, is worthy of praise. Namely, because He is the one who has blessed each and every one of us by means of each and every kind of Spirit appropriated blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. 4 For He chose each and every one of us for His own purpose because of Him alone before creation in order that each and every one of us would be holy as well as uncensurable in His judgment. 5 He did this by predestinating each and every one of us for the purpose of adoption as sons because of His love through Jesus Christ for Himself according to the pleasure of His will. 6 This was for the purpose of praising His glorious grace, which He freely bestowed on each and every one of us because of the one who is divinely loved. 7 Because of whom, each one of us are experiencing that which is the redemption through His blood, namely the forgiveness of our transgressions according to His infinite grace. 8 This He provided in abundance for the benefit of each and every one of us because of the exercise of a wisdom, which is absolute and divine in nature resulting in the manifestation of an insight, which is absolute and divine in nature. 9 He did this by revealing the mystery of His will for the benefit of each and every one of us according to His pleasure, which He planned beforehand because of our faith in and resultant union and identification with Himself. 10 This was for the dispensation which brings to completion the various periods of history. Namely, to unite for the benefit of Himself each and every animate and inanimate object in the sphere of the sovereign authority of the person of the one and only Christ. Specifically, to unite for the benefit of Himself those things in the heavens as well as those things on the earth in the sphere of the sovereign authority of Himself. 11 Because of whom, each and every one of us has been claimed as a possession because of having been predestinated according to the predetermined plan. Namely, the one who is causing each and every animate and inanimate object to function according to His purpose, that is, His sovereign will. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 1:11 is composed of the first person plural aorist passive indicative eklērōthēmen (ἐκληρώθημεν), “each and every one of us has been claimed as a possession,” which is a declarative statement.
It is modified by the prepositional phrase En hō (Ἐν ᾧ), “because of whom,” which presents the first of two reasons for the declarative statement.
Paul presents the second reason for this declarative statement by employing a participial clause prooristhentes kata prothesin (προορισθέντες κατὰ πρόθεσιν), “because of having been predestinated according to the predetermined plan.”
This participial clause is then modified by another one tou ta panta energountos kata tēn boulēn tou thelēmatos autou (τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐνεργοῦντος κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ), “Namely, the one who is causing each and every animate and inanimate object to function according to His purpose, that is, His sovereign will,” which defines the meaning and referent of the prepositional phrase kata prothesin (κατὰ πρόθεσιν), “according to the predetermined plan.”
So therefore, in Ephesians 1:11, the apostle Paul employs the verb eklērōthēmen prothesin (ἐκληρώθημεν) in order to assert that each and every church age believer has been claimed by the Father as His possession.
He then employs the prepositional phrase En hō (Ἐν ᾧ) in order to present the first of two reasons for this.
It contains the figure of metonymy and asserts that it was because of the church age believer’s faith in and union and identification with Jesus Christ that the Father claimed them as His possession.
Paul then gives a second reason for this assertion by employing the participial clause prooristhentes kata prothesin (προορισθέντες κατὰ πρόθεσιν), which states that the Father claimed the church age believer as His possession because He predestinated them according to His predetermined plan.
The apostle Paul then uses the participial clause tou ta panta energountos kata tēn boulēn tou thelēmatos autou (τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐνεργοῦντος κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ) to modify the prepositional phrase kata prothesin (κατὰ πρόθεσιν).
It identifies this plan as the Father causing each and every animate and inanimate object in the heavens and on earth to function according to His purpose, that is, His sovereign will.
As we noted the blessings mentioned in Ephesians 1:3-6 are related to the Father’s work in eternity past on behalf of every church age believer.
Ephesians 1:13-14 speaks of those blessings related to the work of the Holy Spirit and Ephesians 1:7-12 speaks of those blessings as related to the work of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, Ephesians 1:11 presents another Spirit appropriated blessing (cf. Eph. 1:3), which is in addition to those presented in the contents of Ephesians 1:7-10, and which blessings are directly related to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
These Spirit appropriated blessings were according to the Father’s predetermined plan in eternity past and which plan was accomplished by Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
These blessings were appropriated by the church age believer at the moment of their justification through the baptism of the Spirit.
In other words, they appropriated these blessings through their faith in Jesus Christ, which resulted in the Spirit identifying them with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
This identification with Jesus Christ in His session qualified the church age believer to reign with Jesus Christ on the earth during His millennial reign.
As we noted, Ephesians 1:7 asserts that because of the church age believer’s faith in and union and identification with Christ, the church age believer is experiencing that which is redemption through the blood of Christ.
It defines this redemption as the forgiveness of the church age believer’s sins according to the Father’s infinite grace.
Ephesians 1:8 asserts that the Father provided this infinite grace in abundance for the church age believer because of the exercise of His wisdom resulting in the manifestation of His insight.
Then, in Ephesians 1:9, Paul asserts that the Father provided this infinite grace in abundance for the church age believer by revealing the mystery of His will for the benefit of church age believers according to His pleasure.
It asserts that the Father planned this beforehand in eternity past.
The reason why the Father planned this in eternity past was because of the church age believer’s faith in and union and identification with Christ in time.
Ephesians 1:10 presents the purpose of the Father being pleased to plan to do all this, namely, it was for the dispensation, which brings to completion the various periods of history or dispensations.
Paul then explains what he means by this and asserts that it was to place every animate and inanimate object in the heavens and on earth in the sphere of the sovereign authority of the one and only Christ.
This dispensation is the millennial reign of Jesus Christ when He and His bride, the church, will dispossess Satan and his angels and assume rulership of planet earth.
Ephesians 1:11 asserts that because of the church age believer’s faith in and union and identification with Jesus Christ, they have been claimed by the Father as His possession because He predestinated them according to His predetermined plan.
This plan is defined as the Father causing each and every animate and inanimate object to function according to the purpose, that is, His sovereign will.
Therefore, a comparison of the contents of Ephesians 1:7-10 with the contents of Ephesians 1:11 indicates that “in addition to,” experiencing redemption which is the forgiveness of their sins according to His infinite grace (Eph. 1:7), the church age believer has been claimed by the Father as His own possession.
The reason why this is the case is because He predestinated them according to His predetermined plan because of their faith in and union and identification with His Son.
It also indicates that “in addition to” providing His infinite grace in abundance for them (Eph. 1:8), the church age believer has been claimed by the Father as His own possession because He predestinated them according to His predetermined plan because of their faith in and union and identification with His Son.
Furthermore, it indicates that “in addition to” the Father being pleased to provide His infinite grace by revealing the mystery of His will for them and which will He planned beforehand because of their faith in and union and identification with His Son (Eph. 1:9), the church age believer has been claimed by the Father as His own possession because He predestinated them according to His predetermined plan because of their faith in and union and identification with His Son.
Lastly, this comparison indicates that “in addition to” the Father providing His infinite grace by revealing the mystery of His will in order that they might reign for a thousand years on earth with His Son (Eph. 1:10), the church age believer has been claimed by the Father as His own possession because He predestinated them according to His predetermined plan in eternity past because of their faith in and union and identification with His Son in time.
Therefore, Ephesians 1:11 is presenting a blessing, which the church age believer appropriated at the moment of their justification through the baptism of the Spirit, which is “in addition to” the Spirit appropriated blessings presented in the contents of Ephesians 1:7-10.
Notice the connection in these verses between the Father predestinating the church age believer according to His predetermined plan in eternity past and the church age believer’s faith in Jesus Christ at their justification and their union and identification with Him through the baptism of the Spirit, which took place simultaneously at the moment of their justification in time.
This indicates that the Father in His omniscience knew that the church age believer would trust in His Son, Jesus Christ as their Savior in time and thus elected them by predestinating them in eternity past according to His predetermined plan to conform them into the image of His Son (cf. Rom. 8:28).
Thus, the fact that the Father declared the church age believer justified the moment they exercised faith in His Son manifested the fact that the Father elected them in eternity past by predestinating them to adoption as His sons according to His predetermined plan.