October 6, 2019- PM

Ephesians 1:1–2 NASB95

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:16–17 NASB95

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.

Paul’s descriptions of the local church as the body of Christ (4:1-16) have been combined with a worshipful celebration of Christ exalted over all powers in the cosmos () to produce a vision of the church as a cosmic body with Christ as its head (compare ). In adapting the conventional household code for dominant and subordinate members, Ephesians transforms marriage into a relationship between Christ (husband) and his body, the church (wife; , cf ). Paul’s argument that both Jewish and Gentile believers are righteous through faith has been God’s plan the entire time as God’s eternal plan or predestination of the elect.

Ephesians develops a theology that defines reality for the Christian. Images of believers as “children of light” who must live in a world of constant combat with powers of darkness are sectarian. Images of the divine Christ as head of a cosmic body in which groups that had been hostile (Jew and Gentile) are united in a new humanity. Ethical values like the household code match those of the larger society.

Object of the book in a sentence: The book was intended to inform the Gentiles of their new calling, and it was to disclosed the mystery of the body of Christ in which there is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free. The book is not an introduction to the Christian faith but a fuller knowledge of the Christian life. The sovereign purpose of God in establishing the church permeates the first half of the epistle (1:4, 5, 9, 11, 13, 20; 2:4, 6, 10; 3:11) in which the divine plan of redemption is elaborated.

The dynamic of the church’s life is the Holy Spirit, who is the seal of acceptance (1:13), the means of access to God (2:18), the source to revealed truth (3:5), the secret of universal power (3:16), the bond of unity (4:3-4), the mentor of thinking and speech (4:30), the stimulus of joy (5:18), and the armorer for conflict (6:17).

The phrase “to the Saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful” means they are loyal to the faith, substantive believers. The phrase “in Christ Jesus” it does not point to Christ Jesus as the object of belief put implies that the saints and believers are united with him, partakers together in the new life.

1689/ 2 London Baptist Confession

CHAP. II.

Of God and of the Holy Trinity.

1. THE Lord our God is but one only living, and true God; whose2 subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being, and perfection, whose Essence [page] cannot be comprehended by any but himself;4 a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light, which no man can approach unto, who is6 immutable, immense,8 eternal, incomprehensible, Almighty, every way infinite,11 most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the council of his own immutable, and most righteous will,13 for his own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, the rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and withal most just,15 and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty.

2. God having all life,19 glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself: is alone in, and unto himself all-sufficient, not21 standing in need of any Creature which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them, he is the alone fountain of all Being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things, and he hath most sovereign dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, and upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth; in his sight all things are open and manifest, his knowledge is1 infinite, infallible, and independent upon the Creature, so as nothing is to him contingent, or uncertain; he is most holy in all his Councils, in all his Works, and in all his Commands; to him is due3 from Angels and men, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience as [page] Creatures they owe unto the Creator, and whatever he is further pleased to require of them.

3. In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father the Word (or Son) and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and Eternity, each having the whole Divine Essence,5 yet the Essence undivided, the Father is of none neither begotten nor proceeding, the Son is Eternally begotten of the Father, the holy Spirit7 proceeding from the Father and the Son, all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and Being; but distinguished by several peculiar, relative properties, and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our Communion with God, and comfortable dependence on him.