Ephesians chapter one, verse by verse . . .

[com7fy8]

I'll quote these verses together since they are part of the same sentence > 

"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, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:3-6)

In Ephesians 1:3 >

"who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" >

To me, this looks like Paul is saying how our Heavenly Father has blessed us with every good thing spiritual of God Himself. And I understand this is all in His own love which even now lives in us who are His children > 

"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5)

So, already right now, we have God's own love "in our hearts", and I understand this is Heaven's own love with "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" in this love. So, as much as we grow in God's love, we now experience how God's love is, plus we now experience even His own Heavenly blessings which are in this love! 

In Ephesians 1:4 >

"just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" >

So, yes God "chose us" for having His own blessings of Heaven, and He did this choosing "before the foundation of the world".

Predestination, then, is not only about who makes choices about who gets saved, but we in Jesus are destined to share with our Heavenly Father in His own heavenly blessedness of all the good of His love. And we now are experiencing such sharing with Him, as much as we grow in Jesus in us, who has all Heaven's blessedness in Him.

And, by the way, I note how God's love is all-loving love; so in case we are not enjoying such sharing with God, this could be because we are not living in His love which has us loving any and all people!

But "we who first trusted in Christ" (Ephesians 1:12) are destined to this in this life > guaranteed > through Jesus whom we have trusted for salvation. So-o-o . . . thank and trust our Father to do this, how He is able to so succeed  Believe this and pray this.

Paul does say that it is "in Him" . . . in Jesus . . . "in Christ" . . . that we are chosen for such sharing with God in God's love so better than human love; so, yes, Jesus is our way to God, for all we can have with God as our Father > 

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me," Jesus Himself does say in John 14:6.

In Ephesians 1:4 >

"that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,"

This is included in all which God has destined . . . guaranteed . . . for us. For me, I see how this means that "in love" . . . God's love . . . we have and discover how holiness is, and in God's love in us we find out how we become "without blame":

"holy and without blame" have to do with how our character becomes in Jesus.

So, if we are together with God in His love, we can have the character of this love . . . love which is how God wants us to be "holy and without blame". As we become how this love in us has us become, we are perfected in love . . . being made perfect the way God's love is perfect > "in this world" > not only after we die! - - - as it is written >

"Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)

So, yes . . . "in this world" . . . already . . . we can be like Jesus . . . including so we are intimate with our Father plus enjoying the heavenly blessings of God and His love in us. But, therefore, we need to put away what is not all-loving and not generously forgiving, and depend on the LORD in us to change us into how we can so share with Him.

I understand that this is what Paul means later in this epistle to the Ephesians > Paul says >

"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:31-32)

I would say Ephesians 4:31-32 is context and commentary for being "holy and without blame" and how to get here.

And in Philippians 2:14-16 our Apostle Paul gives us more help >

"Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation," (in Philippians 2:14-16)

So, I see, that if anything in us even starts to get us to argue and complain, right away trust and depend on God to get rid of that and have us sharing with Him and submitting to Him in His love, instead. And this can help us to grow and mature in how God's love is "blameless and harmless" and "without fault" > right "in the midst of" this evil world's anti-love "crooked and perverse generation".

So, this is for now, possible with God.

And what is really in us is what can spread to help others to become the same way > God uses example, along with our prayer.

In Ephesians 1:5 >

"having predestined us to adoption as sons" > 

Yes, God our Father adopted us! We once were children of that love-dead father, Satan. But God has made us alive in His love, and sharing as His family.

So, this is included in all which predestination is really about.

In Ephesians 1:6 >

"His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved."

So, yes, by God's grace we have become accepted by God. God is so superior and better than we are; but He is not conceited, picking and choosing who is good enough to love! But He wants all of us. God Himself is committed to all that His word commands and guarantees: He is the One who is able to make this work. 

"The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." (in Luke 18:27)

Edited October 21, 2022 by com7fy8

[JohnS]

https://www.worthychristianforums.com/topic/12106-gods-masterpiece-acgaebelein/

[kwikphilly]

3 hours ago, com7fy8 said:

Well, thank you, everyone, for bringing in a question and some commentary about the setting of the letter to the Ephesians. 

Please make yourself at home, here, to share things like that 

I myself find how a scripture portion can be a commentary on another scripture . . . along with other ways of commenting. 

God bless you . . . hoping to see you 

By the way . . . 

Yes, each verse isolated can be misunderstood. And we can do what we can to make things understood correctly. So, anyone is welcome to check out what I or anyone else says about a verse or a verse combination and give more or correction. 

So-o-o-o . . .  Sharing about each verse can help us to know more of what is in the letter of Ephesians. Then, later, as we meditate on and remember a scripture, we can get more about it, always being able to learn more. 

Blessings Comfy

Have I mentioned how lovely it is to read your posts and talk with you?You are a breath of fresh air!

God Bless you

With love in Christ, Kwik

[com7fy8]

God bless you, too  @kwikphilly

And thank you John @JohnS

I have been using the Bible for learning Spanish. And I just was listening to and reading chapter one of Efesios. In English, in the translation I use, we have how God has predestined us to His blessings >

"according to the good pleasure of His will"

In the Spanish, one translation says > 

«según el puro afecto de su voluntad»

To me, it seems that «puro afecto» could mean "pure affection". So, I was curious if the Greek wording could mean God predestined us according to His pure affection. This can have a different meaning than "good pleasure". But according to my Strong's Greek dictionary it seems the wording for this can have to do with what God approves, what is satisfying to Him, and His good purpose.

Even so, I have learned how our Father has such affection for His Son. And so, I can see how, because of His affection for His Son Jesus, our Father wanted to have many children who are so pleasing to Him like Jesus is. And this affection, then, motivated our Father to predestine that He would have many children like Jesus >

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29)

"This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," our Father says in Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5, and in 2 Peter 1:17. 

And God is not like humans who can wish and want and fight and waste themselves trying and crying. But God is able to do all that He desires, all His word means to Him . . . in us!

And, by the way, Jesus Himself has prayed this for us, guaranteeing this in His own prayer >

"I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" > 

This is in the Lord's prayer of John chapter 17 > verse 23. So, it is God's basic will to love us as He loves Jesus; I now see how this includes that we become like Jesus so we are so pleasing to Him like Jesus is. And by becoming like Jesus, this makes us able to benefit fully from being so loved. And this includes being gentle and humble > like Jesus who is "gentle and lowly in heart", He says in Matthew 11:29. And possibly 1 Peter 3:4 can help us with how to become in our character > 

"rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." (1 Peter 3:4)

So . . . sow . . . thank You, God our Father, in the name of Jesus Your Son ! ! !

Edited October 21, 2022 by com7fy8

[com7fy8]

10 hours ago, JohnS said:

https://www.worthychristianforums.com/topic/12106-gods-masterpiece-acgaebelein/

Hi, John  This link brings us to comments about the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. 

The person says Ephesians is a masterpiece of the Holy Spirit. And there is summary and detail of what the epistle to the Ephesians says. Yes, this message gives us so much of all so good which God has for us with Him.

By the way - - - our Apostle Paul says > 

"clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart." (2 Corinthians 3:3)

So, we in Jesus are God's living message, I see from this which Paul himself does say. A paper and ink masterpiece is indeed so great, if inspired by the Holy Spirit; but our Father wants us to be His epistle for others to read. Ones say, "You could be the only Bible people will ever read." 

And here is something our Apostle Paul and Timothy and Silvanus say to the Thessalonians > 

"you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe." (in 1 Thessalonians 1:7)

"Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything." (in 1 Thessalonians 1:8)

I note how they do not say "Your talking and message has gone out", but "Your faith toward God has gone out". I consider that this could mean their example including their faith was ministering not only accurate words, but accurate living of God's love meaning of His words.

So, because "Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy" (1 Thessalonians 1:1) had a truly successful ministry, the ones they ministered to could then minister Jesus and God's word so that Paul and Timothy and Silvanus had no need to say anything.

So, the Thessalonians themselves were the Holy Spirit's masterpiece epistle. And if we are the epistle of Jesus, we are God's masterpiece . . . not only with words, but example of all God means by His word of how to become and to love like His Son Jesus >

"nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:3)

Each inspired letter in the Bible, by the way, is the Holy Spirit's masterpiece, fitting perfectly with the purpose of that letter. 

Also by the way > I notice how Paul and Silvanus and Timothy say > 

"But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children." (1 Thessalonians 2:7)

So, it seems to me that "a nursing mother" is an example of how church leaders need to relate with God's children. And these three great men, possibly, discovered how they needed to have nursing mothers as their epistles and examples to help them to find out how to relate with God's children while ministering to . . . us.

So . . . in relation to our study of the epistle of Ephesians > I offer how this message is given to us so we can learn all this, so then we ourselves can minister this message and our example of how to live this. And we will need each other to help us with this; not only study and knowledge will be enough, but we need our examples to help to feed us the living meaning of God's message through this epistle of the Ephesians. 

So, indeed also, we need not only the knowledge, but also the grace and peace (Ephesians 1:2) which ministers us into living God's meaning of all He gives us in His word.

Edited October 21, 2022 by com7fy8

[com7fy8]

Ephesians 1:7-10 >

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth---in Him."

Ephesians 1:7 > "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace"

So, yes we have redemption in Jesus, "through His blood", and we are forgiven of our sins. But we are not just given a new status and a legal pardon, but our redemption and forgiveness come "according to the riches of His grace". There is all that His grace is doing in us now, so much more than simply saving us from our sins. 

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29) 

So, this grace is now changing us to become and to love like Jesus who is so pleasing to our Father.

In Ephesians 1:9 we have > "according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself"

I would say our Father's "good pleasure" has a lot to do with how our Father is so pleased with His Son. He is so pleased with Jesus, that He wants to have many children like Jesus; and therefore He has destined that we will become like Jesus so He can enjoy us like He so delights in Jesus. And so His grace has been doing so much more than simply getting us forgiven; we are now being changed to be and to love like Jesus. 

In Ephesians 1:10 > we have, "that . . . He might gather together in one all things in Christ" > 

So, it is all about Jesus. In God's all-managing, all that is happening is in relation to how our Father is so pleased with Jesus His Son. And therefore, many things might not really change; because a lot of people and things aren't going to become pleasing and loving like Jesus, no matter how they are reformed!!

But what will matter is what we do in Christ . . . in His love making us gentle and humble so we and our works are pleasing to our Father. 

"Only what you do for Christ will last", ones say.

Our prayer (1 Timothy 2:1-4), our example (1 Peter 5:3), and our obedience (Genesis 22:18) accomplish more than all worldly people combined are capable of ever doing.

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Edited October 25, 2022 by com7fy8

[Selah7]

An immense “thank you,” @com7fy8

Let’s see now, you left off at verse 11.  By the way, regarding verse 10, I can’t wait!  But in the meantime, we’ll keep pressing on, always “abounding in the work of the Lord.”  Okay, next is verse 11:

[11] In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will:

We are being taught here that those who are "predestinated according to the purpose of Him"—the saints, the set apart ones—have attained an inheritance. And what is that inheritance?  It’s God!  We can find this written in Ezekiel: 

Ezekiel 44:28
And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.

Selah

[com7fy8]

3 hours ago, Selah7 said:

And what is that inheritance?  It’s God!

WOW!!! Yes - - - thank you 

And to Abram He says > 

"I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward" > in Genesis 15:1.

So, we can see how God Himself is our real Reward. And . . . right while we do things with Him, now, He is our Reward.

"Let all that you do be done with love." (1 Corinthians 16:14)

"God is love," we have in 1 John 4:8&16. And doesn't love have us giving our best - - - plus sharing our best so we can be with the ones we are loving? So, God who is love gives us His own self, including through Jesus His own Son who is so perfectly pleasing to Him. 

The greatest beings of all, therefore, are not like mythological and pagan gods who are at odds with each other and requiring humans to do things to appease them . . . while they are distant and impersonal, making people reach to them and beg with no real hope. This is how worldly human leaders in Satan's kingdom can be, by the way, lording over and not personally sharing, but endlessly promising people false hopes which can fool our attention away from God and all He pleases to share with us. 

But our God and Father is not conceited; Jesus is not conceited.

And the Holy Spirit is a most beautifully wonderful Being and Person of God; yet, the Holy Spirit has been doing the most dirty job ever, of cleaning our mess of sin out of us so we can be changed into the image of Jesus. So, this is how humble and caring and generous the Holy Spirit is . . . and so uncomplaining, even while we might gripe about wiping up some dust and washing a few dishes! Even the untouchables clearing sewers in India don't have as dirty a job like what the Holy Spirit does! And right while the Holy Spirit is dealing with removing such filthy and toxic stuff of Satan's evil spirit (Ephesians 2:2) from people, the Holy Spirit does not change from being so pure and clean and loving.

Though God is so superior and greater and better than we are . . . God "has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ", as we have in Ephesians 1:3. God has given us His own best of everything, then! This includes how He is sharing His own love with us "in our hearts" (Romans 5:5) > Heaven's love, already, "in our hearts". So, while we do things in this love, we already have the reward of how Heaven is, in us.

And grace has us growing in this.

The grace of God's love in us changes us to become like Jesus. We have "every spiritual blessing" in us so we can become like Jesus who is all the good and blessedness of God >

"All things that the Father has are Mine," Jesus says in John 16:15.

So, this is what God does. This is God's motive, and this is guaranteed to us because God Himself is committed to this. And so, I would say, this is the main Biblical meaning of our being predestined. 

If we so love and appreciate someone, we can be willing to do anything with him or her . . . just so we can be with the one we love so much. The guy who comes over to dinner with his girlfriend's family can be so pleased to be with her doing the dishes; they can spend hours doing their tiny little chore, just so they can enjoy loving each other. Little children want to do anything with Mommy and Daddy. However a lot of parents have grown up to feel like their chores are a nuisance; and so they just want to get done with them, and therefore they can tell their children to get out of the way and they say "no" when their tiny ones want to help them; so then children can learn that "no" is the answer to wanting to do chores, when they get older. They learn that chores are not a thing of sharing love; so they can seem like a punishment of being put in isolation; so they grow up even rebelling against helping when parents want their help - - later.

But Jesus "appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach," we have in Mark 3:14. So, Jesus did not only try to use His apostles to serve Jesus; but first Jesus wanted them so they would "be with Him". And I understand this was so Jesus could have them to love them. And He kept them with Him while He was preaching . . . possibly so they would realize how preaching is a love ministry of sharing with Jesus. And then if they were later sent out by Jesus, still they could know they were not really away from Him, that they were loved. They could feed on how they were loved, while they were preaching; and whenever they got in scuffles with one another, they could start to get homesick for how they could be loving with each other, instead, like our example Jesus.

So, all we have here in Ephesians, about how God has blessed us, is our example of how to relate with one another, how to parent our children, and how to have hope for evil people > love "hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7).

So, the glory is to You, O God our Father, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by com7fy8

[Selah7]

On 10/19/2022 at 2:15 AM, kwikphilly said:

This is an unconventional way to approach Bible Study,in this way verses of Scripture can easily be taken out of context and therefore result in misapplication.

Respectfully, I disagree, @kwikphilly I believe it is much better to study/teach the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, rightly dividing the “Word of God.” In this way the context will be clear.

Selah
 

[Cntrysner]

4 minutes ago, Selah7 said:

Respectfully, I disagree, @kwikphilly I believe it is much better to study/teach the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, rightly dividing the “Word of God.” In this way the context will be clear.

Selah
 

As it says it, where it says it, and who it says it to.