Eph 3.1-10

Psg: Eph 1.3-10 (http://biblia.com/bible/gs-netbible/Eph1.3-10)
Date: 5/10/12

Read

1:3 Blessed* is* the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed* us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. 1:4 For* he chose us in Christ* before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished* in his sight* in love.* 1:5 He did this by predestining* us to adoption as his* sons* through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure* of his will – 1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace* that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son.* 1:7 In him* we have redemption through his blood,* the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 1:8 that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. 1:9 He did this when he revealed* to us the secret* of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth*in Christ,* 1:10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up* all things in Christ – the things in heaven* and the things on earth.*

Record

He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love.
(NASB: … just as aHe chose us in Him before bthe foundation of the world, that we would be choly and blameless before 1Him. In love...)

Reflect

• [Note that Highquest did not choose the range of the passage well. The section goes through v. 14.]
• We have been chosen from before the foundation of the world to be made holy.
• When we think of the purposes of predestination, despite the debate about its scope, we tend more to think in terms of being chosen to be a collection of people, a choir, a set of workers, a collection of trophies. We don’t often think of our holiness as a purpose or telos.
• When God chose us (whatever “when” means before the foundation of the world), he had in mind making us holy.
• Therefore, being holy and becoming holy are part of our purpose. We fulfill God’s purpose in our lives in part by pursuing holiness. Not just that it’s good to be holy, but that it speaks to our purpose for existing. Why are we here? In part, to be holy! Being holy fulfills part of his purpose for us.
• This also means that the Fall was also in mind before the foundation of the world.
• God is the one who makes us holy.
• Our participation is a cooperation with his work, rather than working contrary to his purpose or being apathetic.
• He has created us for a purpose, and he will see that purpose accomplished. (“He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it,” Php 1.6).
• Our holiness is doubly sure: he predestined it, and he’s doing the work.
• NET note on the sentence break in v. 4: 12 tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ἀγάπῃ (en agapē, “in love”) may modify one of three words or phrases: (1) “chose,” (2) “holy and unblemished,” both in v. 4, or (3) “by predestining” in v. 5. If it modifies “chose,” it refers to God’s motivation in that election, but this option is unlikely because of the placement of the prepositional phrase far away from the verb. The other two options are more likely. If it modifies “holy and unblemished,” it specifies that our holiness cannot be divorced from love. This view is in keeping with the author’s use of ἀγάπη to refer often to human love in Ephesians, but the placement of the prepositional phrase not immediately following the words it modifies would be slightly awkward. If it modifies “by predestining” (v. 5), again the motivation of God’s choice is love. This would fit the focus of the passage on God’s gracious actions toward believers, but it could be considered slightly redundant in that God’s predestination itself proves his love.

Respond

• I see my purpose too often as a list of accomplishments, but you have set for me holiness as a purpose. You have created me in part for this purpose, and you will accomplish it. You have declared before this planet was hung in its place that my existence would serve your purpose of a holy me standing before you. I cannot fathom grace, I cannot express adequate gratitude, I cannot fully comprehend why.
• Make me a man who does not run contrary to your purpose. Make me a man who is never apathetic to your purpose. Make me a pursuer of your purpose - a pursuer of holiness.
• Our eternal prospect is to be radically different than we are now. I, for one, want to be like that prospect early.