Ephesians Series: Ephesians 1:13-Ephesians 1:13-14 Corresponds to Ephesians 1:11-12

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. 13 Correspondingly, because of whom, each and every one of you were sealed by means of the omnipotence of the one and only promised Spirit, who is holy because each and every one of you obeyed the one and only message, which is truth, namely, the proclamation of the one and only gospel, which produced your salvation. Specifically, because each one of you believed in Him. (Lecturer’s translation)

Ephesians 1:13 is composed of a declarative statement esphragisthēte tō pneumati tēs epangelias tō hagiō (ἐσφραγίσθητε τῷ πνεύματι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῷ ἁγίῳ), “each and every one of you were sealed by means of the omnipotence of the one and only promised Spirit, who is holy.”

It is modified by the prepositional phrase En hō (Ἐν ᾧ), “because of whom,” which stands in the emphatic position of the sentence and it is also modified by a participial clause and another prepositional phrase.

The second prepositional phrase en hō pisteusantes (ἐν ᾧ πιστεύσαντες), “Specifically, because of having believed in Him” explains in greater detail the participial clause hymeis akousantes ton logon tēs alētheias, to euangelion tēs sōtērias hymōn (ὑμεῖς ἀκούσαντες τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς σωτηρίας ὑμῶν), “because each and every one of you obeyed the one and only message, which is truth, namely, the proclamation of the one and only gospel, which produced your salvation.”

Therefore, in Ephesians 1:13, the apostle Paul asserts that because of Jesus Christ and specifically, because of the church age believer’s faith in and union and identification with Him, each and every church age believer was sealed by means of the omnipotence of the one and only promised Spirit, who is holy.

As we noted, he then employs a participial clause and a second prepositional phrase, which explain specifically what Paul means by the first prepositional phrase.

They make explicit the reason why each and every church age believer was sealed by means of the omnipotence of the one and only promised Spirit, who is holy.

In other words, they explicitly state what Paul means that it was because of Christ that they were sealed by means of the one and only promised Spirit, who is holy.

The participial clause asserts that it was because they obeyed the one and only message, which is truth, namely, the proclamation of the one and only gospel, which produced their salvation.

The second prepositional phrase explains in greater detail the participial clause and asserts that it was because of having believed in the Son as their Savior that the church age believer was sealed by means of the omnipotence of the one and only promised Spirit, who is holy.

Then, in Ephesians 1:14, Paul describes the Holy Spirit as the down payment of the church age believer’s inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession for the praise of the Father’s glory.

Therefore, Ephesians 1:13 appears to present three reasons why each and every church age believer was sealed by means of the omnipotence of the one and only Spirit, who was promised, who is holy.

However, it is only presenting one, which is expressed by the prepositional phrase En hō (Ἐν ᾧ), which begins the verse and contains the figure of metonymy and speaks of the church age believer’s faith in and union and identification with Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the participial clause and the second prepositional phrase speak of the church age believer’s justification through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior just as the first prepositional phrase does.

These assertions in Ephesians 1:13-14 correspond to the previous assertions, which appear in Ephesians 1:11-12, which discusses the work of the Son in time at the cross on behalf of the church age believer.

So therefore, a comparison of the assertions in Ephesians 1:11-12 with the ones in Ephesians 1:13-14 indicate that the correspondence is between the work of the Son and the work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the church age believer.

Specifically, the correspondence is between the church age believer being the Father’s possession who possesses the confident expectation of blessing because of their faith in and union and identification with Jesus Christ and the church age believer being sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

These assertions correspond with each other because the church age believer became the Father’s possession who possesses the confident expectation of blessing when they were sealed with the Holy Spirit the moment the Father declared them justified through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

Simultaneously, the Father identified them with His Son in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at His right hand through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13-14 completes the triadic pattern that appears in Ephesians 1:3-14.

As we noted, Ephesians 1:3-6 describe the Father’s work in electing the church age believer in eternity past while Ephesians 1:7-12 describe the work of the Son in redeeming them at the cross and Ephesians 1:13-14 describe the work of the Holy Spirit in sealing them as the Father’s possession at their justification.