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Last
week we looked at Eph. 1:3 which is the introduction and summary of the longest
sentence in the Greek NT (vv. 3-14). This is a eulogy or “blessing” section.
Paul usually begins with a prologue and follows it by a prayer of thanksgiving
but Paul deviates from his normal structure and interjects with a “blessing”
section which constitutes vv. 3-14.
GOD IS BLESSED
“Blessed
is the God”…”blessed” is the verbal adjective eulogetos comes from two words eu and logeo. eu meaning “well
or good” and logeo
meaning “to speak of”. So, eulogetos means “to speak well of”. God is spoken well of.
Why? For two reasons: his intrinsic character and because of what He has done
for us.
First, His intrinsic character (SRJLOOOIE). Notice that God’s character is immutable, it never
changes. This is why the Trinity is necessary. If God was one and there was no
Trinity then who would God love? Himself? That’s not true love. It’s essential
that God be a Triunity because if He were not He
could not really be loving could He? This is revealed in Jesus’ prayer of John
17:24. So, God is a God of love whether there was a plan of salvation or there
wasn’t a plan of salvation. What this reveals is that the plan of salvation is
first and foremost a revelation of God’s character. It is not first and
foremost about saving all men. vv. 3-14 are a revelation of God’s love to man
through the plan of salvation. Salvation is not first and foremost about saving
you. It’s first and foremost about God. He chose to reveal His character to us
through the plan of salvation. Hopefully you’re going to see this in vv. 3-14
when we start to look at predestination and election. These are revelatory
devices, devices that reveal the character of God to His creatures. The thing
we’re going to discover is that the plan of salvation has as its priority the
revelation of divine essence and not to save all men. Now that’s the big point:
salvation of all men is a second priority. If you grasp that then you can
understand how God can work sovereignly while he
predestinates and elects. B/c His greatest priority is to reveal Himself to His
creatures, this is the process of glorification; secondarily in the process,
salvation for all men. This is why Hell has a design in the plan of salvation;
to reveal God’s character.
The
second reason God is spoken well of
is because of what He has done for us. What has He done for us? Vv. 4-14
explain what He’s done for us: He’s elected us, He’s predestined us, He’s sent
His Son to be a Sacrifice for us, and He’s given us the sealing ministry of the
Holy Spirit to secure us. This is why God is spoken well of.
GOD BLESSES US
But
then in v. 3 we find that God “speaks well of us”. Paul uses the same word eulogia to describe God’s giving us
every spiritual blessing. Why does God “speak well of us?” Because we are “in
Christ”. Not because of who you are. Not because God looked down and saw
something very attractive about you. The whole point is that you can be blessed
by God because you are in union with the 2nd person of the trinity.
It’s because you are united to Him that you share His blessing. This concept is
one which will come in and help us understand predestination and election. For
God to “speak well of” you, you have to get into that circle of the Trinity
somehow. The way we do that is by being in union with the 2nd person
of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. “has blessed” is a Constantive
Aorist. When did God bless you? In time or before time? The answer is that He
blessed us before time, vv. 4-5 fill in the details by using the phrase “before
the foundation of the world”, this is eternity past. He blessed you before you
were saved. This time is what theologians call the Divine Decree which is the
Trinity’s counsel in eternity past when they laid out the plan of salvation.
There is a logical order to the plan of salvation that was set out in eternity
past by the Trinity and this plan is the most fantastic thing in the history of
the entire universe. So, you were blessed in eternity past. Whenever you
accepted Christ you merely assumed the position He had planned for you all
along. So, the great thing about this is that a lot of Christians are scared of
these words in vv. 4-5 and yet you shouldn’t be because you should realize that
this is blessing. These truths tell you that the plan of God can never fail.
It’s impossible for the plan of God to fail, because from all eternity He has
planned on you being here and for you assuming every spiritual blessing. And
it’s always been in the books from all eternity. Nothing can change about this.
This should be a real source of security and certainty as to the stability of
the plan of salvation. What has he blessed you with?
WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL
BLESSING
So,
you have every “spiritual blessing”. Spiritual indicates the type or nature of
the blessing. The blessing is spiritual
not physical.
What are the mechanics
of spiritual perception?
POSSESSIONS, ENEMIES, AND
WAY OF VICTORY
RESPONSES TO SPIRITUAL
BLESSINGS:
There
were 3 possible responses to the spiritual blessings; 1) if you are a new or
immature believer you may have never heard this truth and so you can go
positive now, claiming these blessings and living a victorious Christian life
or you can go negative and experience defeat like Joshua and
WHERE ARE THE BLESSINGS?
They
are “in the heavenlies. We looked at the three
heavens, the Atmospheric Heaven where the birds and precipitation come from.
Then we looked at the 2nd heaven: the Starry heaven where the sun,
moon, stars, and other planets are located. Finally we looked at the 3rd
heaven: the Highest Heaven, the shamayim shamayim or “Heaven of Heavens”. This is what Paul
calls the 3rd Heaven. This where our spiritual blessings are located
because this is where the ascended Lord Jesus Christ is located. This is also
where our spiritual foes of darkness are. But let me show you one more verse to
show you that Christ sits far above these powers of darkness. Turn to
Eph.1:20-21 READ. See, you are victorious even though your foes are in the same
heaven because Christ is “far above” these foes. According to Eph.
2. The Basis of Spiritual Blessings
(1:4-14)
a.
God’s Election for Himself (1:4-6)
Greek Text: 1:4-5 kaqw.j evxele,xato
h`ma/j evn auvtw/| pro. katabolh/j ko,smou ei=nai
h`ma/j a`gi,ouj kai. avmw,mouj katenw,pion auvtou/ evn avga,ph|( 5 proori,saj h`ma/j eivj ui`oqesi,an dia. VIhsou/ Cristou/
eivj auvto,n( kata. th.n euvdoki,an
tou/ qelh,matoj auvtou/(
Translation: 1:4-5 because He chose us
(for Himself) in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and
faultless before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption through Jesus
Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Review: After stating that
God is “praised”, having given to each saint every spiritual blessing he gives
the reason God is “praised” in vv. 4-14. God is to be praised for the work of
the Trinity in Redemption. God the Father is the one who “predestined us” and
“chose us” (vv. 4-6), God the Son is the one who was a sacrifice for us (vv.
7-11), and God the Spirit is the one who sealed us (vv. 12-14). This three-fold
division is obvious in the text because of the inclusion of the three persons
of the Godhead and because there is a similar refrain at the end of each
section (COMPARE 1:6, 12, 14).
Foreview: In vv. 4-6 it is best to see these works as those of the
Father even though the Father is not named in this section. The reasons are
two-fold; first, because God has
already been called Father in v. 2, second,
because the Son is mentioned in vv. 7-11 and the Spirit is mentioned in vv.
12-14, third, because Ephesians is a
strongly Trinitarian letter (cf. 1:17; 2:18,
22; 3:4-5, 14-17; 4:4-6; 5:18-20). It seems best then to understand vv. 4-6 as
being the Father’s work in Redemption. That work consists of three main things;
election (v. 4), predestination (v. 5), and resultant praise (v. 6).
Commentary: 1:4. kaqw.j, “because”. The kathos is an
adverbial conjunction often translated “just as” which would then refer to the
“manner” in which God the Father has blessed the believer. However, kathos can also
be translated as “because” which would not indicate “manner” but the “reason”
God is blessed (v. 3…Blessed is the God and Father…) This seems like the best
rendering. We might ask from v. 3 “why is God blessed?” and here Paul is giving
us the answer, God is blessed because “He
chose us”. Turn to Eph. 4:32 for the same use of kathos. This is a well-known
verse having been put to song: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted,
forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has
forgiven you.” If “just as” is the proper translation of kathos then this verse would mean that we are to forgive each other in
the same manner as God in Christ forgave you. In what manner did Christ forgive
you? He forgave you by going to death on the cross, having nailed your sins to
the tree”. But we cannot forgive each other in this way. We are not to forgive
others in the same manner that Christ forgave us. We are rather to forgive others because
Christ forgave us. Because of the grace shown us we ought to forgive
others is Paul’s point! In both 1:4 and
evxele,xato h`ma/j “He chose us (for
Himself)”. Exelexato
is the Aorist Middle Indicative of the Greek word eklegomai which comes from two Greek words, ek meaning “out” and lego
meaning “to say or speak”. So, the word means “to speak out of”. I know
that election is a difficult and sometimes heart wrenching truth. It’s not
uncommon to find that a discussion about “election” makes people madder than a
hornet. So, I want you to prepare yourself spiritually to perceive this truth.
People are either for it or against it. Every believer struggles with it
because his nature, since the fall is stirred up against it. Notice the tense,
it is Aorist meaning point action in the past. When in the past, in time or
before time? Paul locates the choice before time when he says “before the
foundation of the world”. Paul also teaches this in 2 Thess.
2:13 (READ) very clearly. What He chose us for was “salvation” and this choice
took place in eternity past. If we understand man’s nature as totally depraved
this is a very comforting truth. If we reject man’s nature as totally depraved
then this truth is typically despised. I think it is essential that we
understand that man is totally depraved, but I am not too fond of the term
“totally” because it makes man sound “all bad” and that’s not what we’re trying
to communicate. I prefer comprehensively depraved because that term designates
more clearly what is truly meant. The word depraved is used in Romans 1:28
READ. It’s the Greek word adokimos which means
“to fail the test”. In this context Paul is saying that the natural man has a
mind that “fails the test”, a mind that is not able to do that which is proper.
So, when we say man is
comprehensively depraved we are saying that every facet of man’s being is
affected and every facet of man “fails the test” in respect to pleasing God.
Man fails the test of pleasing God. We have no merit in God’s sight. We have no
legal claim on God so that He had to choose us. This is why God, of His own
volition, without respect to how good a boy you are, elected some. If He didn’t
no one would be saved. I know this is a hard truth to accept because we
struggle with our human nature since the Fall. Every inclination in our hearts
is stirred up against such a concept. But, this is what the Scriptures teach.
However, I think it is easier to understand and accept when we understand our
true position as depraved individuals. In fact, I think election brings great
comfort when we understand who we were. Romans 3:9-11 explain clearly that
human beings come short of the glory of God and do not even seek him READ. Depravity is our condition in history,
election is God’s plan to remedy such a condition before history.
This is why He is “blessed”. This is why we praise Him, because He provided a
means of escaping our depraved condition and spending eternity with Him. Let’s
look at the word some more, just to get a good handle on the Greek word and the
contexts it is used in. What I have concluded is that this doctrine is very
comforting. Election should not be considered antagonistically by the believer.
It should be something that results in praise and thanksgiving to God.
Now, when we come to vv. 4-5 we first find that eklegomai is the only finite verb in a relative clause
in vv. 4-14. The main verb is in v. 5 “predestination” (proorizo). So, you’ve got the
finite verb in v. 4 and the main verb in v. 5. What this means is that the
finite verb is either logically subsequent
to the main verb or the main verb is the cause
of the finite verb. What this means is that three interpretations are
possible grammatically; 1) predestination precedes election logically in the
eternal counsels of God or 2) predestination, the idea that God pre-planned a
destiny is the reason God elected. Or it could be a combination of both.
Logically predestination preceded and is the reason God elected some men. The
latter is the best explanation. God prepared a destiny beforehand and because
of that He elected some people. Predestination has more to do with the what, election more with the who. Predestination doesn’t really have
to do with people so much, it rather has to do with people’s destiny. He
pre-planned a destiny for you. Election has to do with the people themselves
who will enjoy that destiny. So, logically v. 5 precedes v. 4. For the full
sequence, at least logically, turn to Rom. 8:28-30. Now, you don’t see election
in there, but where it fits is after predestination and before called. FOREKNEW,
PREDESTINED, ELECTED, CALLED, JUSTIFIED, GLORIFIED. That’s the order the NT
places on these acts of God. Even though predestination precedes (logically)
election we’re going to go ahead and look at election. In the coming weeks
we’ll look at predestination.
CLASSICAL
USAGE
The word as
used in the classical Greek authors, in the active, means “to pick out” or
“single out”. In the passive it means “to be selected or chosen”. In the middle
it means “to pick out for oneself”, “to choose”, or “to select”. For example,
Aristophanes uses it to describe one selectively picking out or pulling out
one’s gray hairs.
LXX USAGE (with apocrypha)
The word
occurs 141 times in the LXX.[1] Of
the LXX usage it may be said that the subject chose
in light of all known options and that his choice was made freely and not due
to dislike of the other option or because the other option had some legal claim
on the one making the choice. In the majority of uses God is the subject.[2] Koine Usage (330BC-330AD)
is the same.[3]
NEW
TESTAMENT USAGE
Very
few people actually take the time to look at every usage of the Greek
word eklegomai in the NT so that is exactly what we are
going to do. We’re going to have a Bible drill. I want you to see every
reference to election in the NT. What you’re going to notice is that not all of
these passages are in the context of salvation. Many of them are in contexts
that don’t bother people much. Another reason I’m doing this is because I want
you to see that I’m not hiding anything from you. The word is used 22 times in
the Critical Text and 21 times in the Majority Text. The difference is Luke
9:35 which we’ll look at in a moment. First, turn to
Luke
6:13 READ. Here what we observe is that Jesus called His disciples (plural) and
chose out of that larger group 12 men to become apostles. So, here Jesus made a
choice knowing all the options, so it was not arbitrary but based on knowledge.
There is nothing in this text which indicates that Jesus disliked those He did
not choose. The verb is in the middle voice which means that there was a
personal interest involved. He chose these 12 for Himself. Notice that election
in this text is not to salvation, it is to apostleship. Jesus chose out of His
disciples which were a mixed group of believers and unbelievers. Obviously
Judas was chosen as an apostle but not chosen for salvation. We’ll see more
about this text in Acts 1:24 when the word “elect” is used again to replace
Judas.
Luke
9:35 READ. The best manuscripts, the Majority Text read “This is My beloved
Son!” (cf. KJV) not “This is My Son, My Chosen One!”
However, there is no English translation based on the Majority Text. Although
there are scholars working on it. So, you have to trust that I check the
Majority Text each time I prepare a lesson so I can bring you this information.
I can give you a little of the story now behind your translations. In the
mid-1800’s a man named Tischendorff was walking
through the Vatican and he saw a manuscript sitting in a burn pile. Tischendorff took the manuscript and the manuscript was
dated to about 400AD. This was very early in comparison to most of the
manuscripts then available (900AD). This manuscript is known as Sinaiticus. It was almost an entire Bible in Greek. After
research it was found that Sinaiticus was shorter
than other manuscripts and so it was concluded that the later manuscripts had
material added. Some scholars support the theory because they say it is more
probable that scribes would add words to the text than to take away words.
However, Sinaiticus has some problems. It is shorter,
it was perhaps a Gnostic text, and it was set to be burned. But the important
thing to note today is that if you have a NASB it was
built on Sinaiticus. See, in the late 1800’s two men
Westcott and Hort started the United Bible Society
and they advocated the older Sinaiticus over the
other manuscripts, such as the Textus Receptus which is back of KJV, NKJV. Today the reigning theory is for the older
manuscripts, such as Sinaiticus. So, when I look at
NA27 or Tischendorff Greek texts they are all based
on Sinaiticus. The problem with this is that the
Majority of our manuscripts (85%) are different from these older texts, they
are longer, and they agree. The Majority Text is much closer to the Textus Receptus (KJV) than it is to the Critical Text. It is my conclusion
that the Majority Text is the best text. 85% of the manuscripts agree and that
seems more like the Holy Spirit’s preservation than a few texts here and there
that disagree, even with each other. We’re going to have to say the Holy Spirit
did a poor job of preserving the text if we advocate the Critical Text. In Luke
9:35 the Majority Text reads “My Beloved Son” (also KJV)
not “My Chosen One” (NASB). Thus, this usage is not
really under consideration.
Luke
10:42 READ. Here again, Mary knew what her other options might be. She could
help Martha, but she chose to “sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to His words”.
Again, this is the middle voice, meaning that she chose for herself to sit and
listen to the words of the Lord. This did not mean that Mary didn’t like
Martha.
Luke
14:7 READ. In this passage the Pharisees began “picking out” certain places of
honor to sit down. They picked individual places out of all known options.
Again, the middle voice is used, meaning that they “picked out” these places of
honor for themselves, or selfishly. Their whole being was involved in their
action of picking. The unrighteous choose unrighteously.
The righteous choose righteously.
Acts
1:2 READ. This is simply a present statement made about the actual historical
choice which we looked at a moment ago in Luke 6:13. Exact same word, exact
same form in both instances.
Acts
1:24 READ This is the choosing of the 12 disciple to replace Judas. The 11 knew
all the possible choices (v. 21-22) and they prayed that God choose out of
Matthias and Joseph. There is nothing to indicate that God did not like Joseph
just because he was not chosen to take Judas’ office.
Acts
6:5 READ Here is the choosing of the first deacons. Notice it was done by the
congregation. The congregation chose seven out of all known possibilities that
qualified for the office of deacon. There choice was not arbitrary, it was
based on their knowledge of the spiritual status.
Acts
13:17 READ. In this text we find that God chose the Father’s of Israel. The
Father’s of Israel are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God chose from every known
inhabitant on the earth Abraham, then God chose Isaac out of Abraham’s loins.
He did not choose Ishmael. Then He chose Jacob and not Esau. God knew all the
choices and He chose, not arbitrarily but purposefully and lovingly.
Acts
15:7 READ. Peter is referring back to the instance at Cornelius’ house where
the door for Holy Spirit baptism came upon the Gentiles who believed. Peter was
the one whom God chose out of all the brethren present to fulfill this task.
Peter is not boasting. Peter is stating the facts about what God did. Peter is
not looking down on those not chosen for the task.
Acts
15:22, 25 READ. Here the elders and apostles chose men to go with Paul and
Barnabas to Antioch. They had all known options before them and carefully, on
the basis of knowledge chose which men to go. There is no arbitrariness here
and no intimation of dislike for those not chosen.
John
6:70 READ. This reference is similar to Luke 6:13. Jesus chose the 12 yet one
was a devil, Judas. Clearly Jesus chose from all His disciples, 12 to be
apostles.
John
13:18 READ. Judas again. Jesus chose the 12 but one of them was betraying Him.
Jesus knew when He chose Judas that Judas would betray Him. Jesus chose Judas
to fulfill the prophecy. Jesus clearly had all known options before Him. His
choice of Judas was not accidental or arbitrary but full of purpose. This
clearly shows that election is unconditional. Judas’ character was certainly
not the kind of character that would make him a good apostle. But Jesus chose
him anyway, knowing his character and what he would do.
John
15:16 READ. Technically this reference is to apostleship not salvation. But,
the idea is that the apostles did not choose to be Christ’s apostles, Christ
chose them to be His apostles. Middle again meaning Christ chose them for
Himself with personal interest, not arbitrarily but for a purpose. Usually
friends choose one another but not in this case. This chose was an aggressive
choice. Christ chose them.
John
15:19 READ. Possibly for salvation since chosen out of the world but also it
may be for apostleship. It seems likely that this is for salvation and not for
apostleship because Judas was chosen for apostleship yet he was not hated by
the world. He was the betrayer from the world. This is a direct reference to
Jesus choosing the 11 for salvation. The result is that the world hates those
who are chosen. The world hates you.
1
Cor. 1:27ff READ. God knew all the things in the
world and He chose the foolish things to shame the wise men. Notice
particularly in v. 29 that it is “By His doing” that you are “in Christ Jesus”
not by our doing. And God certainly knows what He is doing.
Mark
13:20 READ. Here the noun is used as well as the verb. There is a group of
elect and God chose them. The verb is again in the middle voice indicating
strong personal interest. Notice how personal God has designed history. The
tribulation will be the worst time ever on earth and God will shorten the
tribulation for His elect. Is election really an unloving choice? Or is it a
deeply loving choice. It’s because God lovingly chose thee elect that He
shortens the horrible time of tribulation.
James
2:5 READ Did not God choose the poor of the world to be rich in faith and heirs
of the kingdom? God chose out of all known options. And what He has provided
for those He chose is wonderful. What a great God we have.
CONCLUSION
First,
we find that in all cases a choice was made out of a multiplicity of known
choices (cf. Lk.
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