Ephesians 1:3-14 (2)

Premise:

Paul, by the Spirit, is unveiling the mystery of the gospel and the working of the Trinity in the sovereign, salvific election of the saints.

Opening:

Introduction of the Text:

Reading of the Text:

Ephesians 1:3-14 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love,5 by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved.7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight,9 making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him 10 for an administration of the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in Him.11 In Him, we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,12 to the end that we who first have hoped in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.13 In Him, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation⁠—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Behold, the Word of God.

Prayer:

Transition:

One Sentence in Greek.

The Trinity at Work in Salvation.

Praise the Father who Elects. v. 4-6

Praise the Son who redeems. v. 7-12

Praise the Spirit who seals. v. 13-14

Opening Benediction/ Doxology. v. 3

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...”

When God blesses believers, he bestows a certain favour upon them that they do not deserve. When they bless him, it is an act of praise and adoration that he richly deserves. It is not an act of grace on their part to give benediction or blessing to the Almighty

R. C. Sproul, The Purpose of God: Ephesians (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 21.

The Father Blessed us. v. 3.

“who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

God has blessed us.

Every Spiritual blessing.

In the heavenly places.

In Christ.

The Father Chose us in Him Before the Foundation of the World. v. 4

“just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him...”

The Father Chose us.

In Him.

Calvin, “In short, the name of Christ excludes all merit, and everything which men have of their own; for when he says that we are chosen in Christ, it follows that in ourselves we are unworthy.”

John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 198.

Before the foundation of the world.

That we would be holy and blameless

He Predestined us. v. 5

“5 by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,”

The Most Hated Word in Christianity. Predestination.

Illustration: My hatred of this word.

Argumentation:

Chosen and Passed Over.

Sproul, “Think of it in this very personal way. If you are a believer, ask yourself candidly why it is that you believe yet somebody else does not. Do you harbour the idea within your heart that the reason why you received Christ while your neighbour rejected him is because you were somehow more righteously disposed towards obeying the summons of the gospel than your neighbour?”

R. C. Sproul, The Purpose of God: Ephesians (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 25.

Calvin, “How comes it then that some men are religious, and live in the fear of God, while others give themselves up without reserve to all manner of wickedness? If Paul may be believed, the only reason is, that the latter retain their natural disposition, and the former have been chosen to holiness.”

John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 199.

We ought to love this doctrine and rejoice over it.

Through Christ, to the Father.

According to the pleasure of His Will.

Sproul, “Paul says that God has done this in accordance with his pleasure and will. This is the only reason to be found in Scripture that explains why God elects people for salvation. The reason for election is not my foreseen righteousness; or my foreseen obedience; or my foreseen response to the gospel.”

R. C. Sproul, The Purpose of God: Ephesians (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 24.

The Free Grace of God. v. 6

“to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

Praising God’s Grace.

Grace Alone.

In The Beloved.

The Son Redeems us. v. 7-8

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight,”

In Christ we have redemption.

Through His blood.

The forgiveness of our sin.

According to the riches of the Fathers grace.

The Father Lavishes This Grace on us.

The Mystery of His Will. v. 9

“making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him”

The Mystery of Salvation.

Progressive Revelation.

Sproul, “Paul is showing that the revelation God gives of himself and of the plan of redemption is a gradual, progressive unveiling of his full and final purposes.”

R. C. Sproul, The Purpose of God: Ephesians (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 28.

Sproul, “Think how redemption was revealed to the saints in the Old Testament. They went through elaborate rituals involving the sacrifice of animals and days of atonement. Even when God gave his promise of redemption to Abraham, he didn’t spell out that there was going to be an atonement by a Saviour, through an incarnation and suffering. All he told Abraham was that, through Abraham’s seed, all the nations of the world would be blessed. God didn’t reveal to Abraham everything he had in mind. The details remained hidden, shrouded in mystery. Throughout the Old Testament, however, more and more of the Divine plan was being revealed. Special revelation reached its zenith with the appearance of the Son of God on earth. Through the teaching of Christ and his apostles, a quantum leap is made in terms of the content of supernatural revelation”

R. C. Sproul, The Purpose of God: Ephesians (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 28.

The Pleasure of God.

Calvin, “The Ephesians are thus led to consider that Christ has been made known, and the gospel preached to them, not because they deserved any such thing, but because it pleased God.”

John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 204.

Purposed in Christ.

Christ is King. v. 10

“for an administration of the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in Him.”

The Administration of Christ.

The Fullness of Time.

All Things Are Summed Up in Christ.

In Heaven and On Earth.

The Sovereign God. v. 11

“In Him, we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,”

In Him.

In Him or in Christ is mentioned 12 times.

We have been made and inheritance.

(Past Tense.)

Having Been Predestined.

According to the purpose of Him.

Him who works ALL things according to the counsel of His will.

Argumentation:

God is THE Sovereign One.

Soli Deo Gloria. v. 12

“to the end that we who first have hoped in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”

What is the Chief End of Man?

What is the Chief End of the Salvation of Man?

The Spirit Seals Us. v. 13-14d

“In Him, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession,”

Sealed in Christ.

By the Spirit.

The Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance.

God’s Own Possession.

Soli Deo Gloria. v. 14e

“to the praise of His glory.”

What is the Chief End of the Salvation of Man?

Argumentation:

We should echo Paul and love this doctrine.

God is Sovereign.

Application:

Theology Leads to Doxology.

Knowing God Leads to Worshiping God.

Closing:

Paul, by the Spirit, is unveiling the mystery of the gospel and the working of the Trinity in the sovereign, salvific election of the saints.

Prayer:

Closing Doxology:

Closing Benediction:

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,