Ephesians Series: Ephesians 1:12b-The Church Age Believer’s Certainty of Possessing a Confident Expectation of Blessing

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 12 in order that each and every one of us would belong to a particular group of people. Namely, those who are certain of possessing a confident expectation of blessing because of their faith in and union and identification with the one and only Christ for the purpose of praising His glory. (Lecturer’s translation)

The participial clause tous proēlpikotas en tō Christō (τοὺς προηλπικότας ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ), “Namely, those who are certain of possessing a confident expectation of blessing because of their faith in and union and identification with the one and only Christ” describes church age believers as those who are certain of possessing a confident expectation of blessing because of their faith in and union and identification with Jesus Christ.

This interpretation is supported by the fact that the articular construction of the participle conjugation of this verb proelpizō (προελπίζω) functions as an accusative of simple apposition.

This indicates that word is describing Paul and each one of the recipients of the Ephesian epistle and every church age believer as those who exist in the state of being certain of possessing a confident expectation of blessing because of their faith in and union and identification with the one and only Christ.

We have a couple of interpretative problems with regards to this verb proelpizō (προελπίζω).

The first problem is what does the word mean?

Secondly, who is the referent of this verb?

I do not believe that the referent of the accusative first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ) and the referent of the masculine plural of the verb proelpizō (προελπίζω) is Jewish believers but rather, both Jewish and Gentile church age believers.

In our study of Ephesians 1:11, we answered the question as to why does Paul switch from the first person plural to the second person plural and back again in Ephesians 1:3-14?

Also, who is the referent of the first person plurals and the second person plural?

The former is translated “us” and “we,” while the latter is translated “you” but actually literally it means “all of you.”

Many expositors contend that the referent of the first person plurals in Ephesians 1:3-12 and 14 is Jewish believers and the Gentile believers are addressed with the second person plural in Ephesians 1:13.

However, this would mean that Paul is saying in this verse that the Gentile Christians were the first to believe in Christ, which does not agree with the contents of Acts 2, which makes it clear that chronologically, it was the Jews who were the first to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

It wasn’t until Acts 10 that we see Gentiles trusting in Christ as their Savior.

From the beginning of the Ephesian epistle, Paul makes no distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers.

In Ephesians 1:1, he make no distinctions between Jewish and Gentile believers but simply addresses them both as “saints” as well as “faithful” in this verse.

Then, in Ephesians 1:2, he addresses them with the second person plural form “all of you, you” and he does this very same thing in Ephesians 1:13.

After addressing the recipients of this epistle in Ephesians 1:3-12 with the first person plurals, he then addresses them in Ephesians 1:13 with the second person plural and he then switches right back to the first person plural in Ephesians 1:14 to address the recipients of the letter.

So therefore, Paul is not employing an “editorial we” or “epistolary we” in these verses, which means that although, he is using the first person plural, he is referring to only himself in reality.

He is also not using the “exclusive we,” which means that he is referring to himself and his associates (like Timothy) as distinct from the recipients of the letter.

If Paul is not making a distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers by switching from the first person plural to the second person plural on two occasions in this letter when addressing its recipients, then why is he doing so?

I believe that he employs the second person plural in Ephesians 1:2 but then switches to the first person plural in Ephesians 1:3-12 because he is simply attempting to identify with the recipients of the Ephesian epistle who were Gentile Christians.

This is indicated by the fact that he addresses them as Gentiles in Ephesians 2:11-22 and he of course, was a Jewish Christian.

When he makes this switch in Ephesians 1:13 and 14, it is for the same reason or in other words, he, as a Jewish believer, is demonstrating his solidarity with the Gentile Christian community.

Though Paul never mentions any specific problem or problems taking place within the Christian community in this epistle, it can be inferred from the contents of the letter that he was concerned that the Christian community remained united experientially through practice of the command to love one another.

This is indicated by the fact that Paul opens the practical application of his teaching in the first three chapters by commanding the recipients of the letter to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in Ephesians 4:3.

This would be accomplished by living in a manner worthy of their calling and by practicing humility, gentleness, patience and tolerance of one another through the practice of the command to love one another, which Paul instructs them to do in Ephesians 4:1-2.

In fact, in Ephesians 2:11-22, he emphasizes this unity that exists among Jewish and Gentile believers in a positional sense through the baptism of the Spirit, which took place at the moment of justification.

Therefore, in Ephesians 1:3-14, when Paul employs the first person plural to address the recipients of the Ephesian epistle, he is using an “inclusive we,” which refers to both himself as the author and the recipients of the letter.

Thus, the referent of both the first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ) and the masculine plural form of the verb proelpizō (προελπίζω) is both Jewish and Gentile church age believers.

By switching from the second person plural to the first person plural in Ephesians 1:2-12 and then back again to the second person plural to the first person plural in Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul, as a Jewish believer, it attempting to identify with Gentile Christians.

In other words, he is expressing his solidarity and is promoting unity among Jews and Gentiles in the Christian community in the Roman province of Asia.

Consequently, the προ prefix of the verb proelpizō (προελπίζω) in Ephesians 1:12 does not express a temporal reality or temporal force to it indicating that Jewish Christians were “the first” to possess a confident expectation blessing before Gentile Christians.

This prefix along with the perfect tense of this verb emphasizes the certainty of both Jew and Gentile church age believers possessing a confident expectation of blessing because of their faith in and union and identification with Jesus Christ.

Therefore, here in Ephesians 1:12, the verb proelpizō (προελπίζω) is expressing the idea of the church age believer existing in the state of being “certain of possessing a confident expectation of blessing” because of the Father declaring them justified through faith in His Son and their union and identification with His Son at the moment of justification through the baptism of the Spirit.

The perfect tense of this verb proelpizō is an intensive perfect which is emphasizing the present state of the church age believer existing in the state of being certain of possessing a confident expectation of blessing because of the Father declaring them justified through faith in His Son and their union and identification with His Son at the moment of justification through the baptism of the Spirit.

What is this confident expectation of blessing?

First of all, it is the confident expectation of a resurrection body at the rapture or resurrection of the church which is imminent (1 Thess. 4:13-17; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Cor. 15:50-58).

It speaks of the believer’s confidence that they have not only been delivered at the moment of their justification from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system and condemnation from the Law but also it speaks of their confidence that they can experience this deliverance in time and will experience it permanently at the rapture.

Thirdly, this confident expectation of blessing is related to rewards for faithful service at the Bema Evaluation of the church which immediately follows the rapture of the church (Col. 1:23; 1 Thess. 2:19; Titus 1:2; 3:7; 1 Pet. 1:3).

This confident expectation of blessing of a resurrection body and rewards for faithful service will empower the church age believer to remain faithful and to persevere in serving God, each other and the non-Christian community.