Ephesians 1

PAUL an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithfull This may be understood either, 1. by way of Restriction, of those that are sincere and constant to Christ, and so not only Saints by profession, but true to their profession; or, 2. rather, by way of Explication: he defines those Saints he spake of, and calls them faithfull in Christ here, whom he called Saints before. in Christ Jesus The Authour and Fountain of that holiness which denominates them Saints..

Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be i. e. Thanked, praised. We bless God when we praise him for, and acknowledge him in his excellencies or benefits. the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed Has vouchsafed or communicated all spiritual Blessings to us. God blesseth us when he doeth good to us; and so the word Bless is taken in a different sense from what it was in the former clause. us with all Of all sorts or kinds. spiritual In opposition to temporal and worldly, which the carnal Iews principally expected, and the Law mostly promised, (Deut. 28.1, 2. to v. 15.) and which were but types and shadows of those spiritual Blessings which immediately relate to the spiritual Life and Salvation of Believers. blessings in heavenly places Gr. Supercoelestial or Heavenly, understand either, 1. Things; and then it seems to be the same as spiritual Blessings, only in other terms. Or, 2. Places, in opposition to earthly Places, particularly the Land of Canaan, in which God had formerly promised to Bless his people. These spiritual Blessings are in heavenly places, because, though they reach us here on earth, yet they are derived to us from God and Christ in Heaven, and in Heaven only have their full perfection and consummation hereafter. in Christ By, or through Christ. Upon the account of whose merit, and by whose efficiency these spiritual Blessings are derived from God to us. Or, in Christ as our head, the repository, and seat of all divine Blessings, from whom they flow down upon us as his Members, receiving all we have, out of his fullness. He seems to have respect to the promise made to Abraham, Gen. 22.18. That in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed, pointing out Christ as that Seed, and those Blessings as Spiritual. Vid. Act. 3.25, 26..

According God blesseth us with all spiritual Blessings according as he has chosen us; Election being the fountain from whence those Blessings come, so that God doeth nothing for us in carrying on the work of our Salvation, but what he had in his eternal council before determined. as he has chosen us Separated us in his purpose and decree from others (whom he left out of that gracious act of his will) and determined that we should be holy and unblameable, &c. in him Either, 1. as in the former verse, by, and through Christ, for his sake, and upon the account of his merit as the procuring cause, not of our Election, but Sanctification; q. d. God has chosen us, that we should be made holy and unblameable by Christ. Or, 2. rather, in Christ as the foundation on which he would build us (his spiritual house) and by which both we might be united to God, and he communicate his Influence and Grace to us; or as our head, by which he might convey grace, and strength, and life to us as Christ's Members., before the foundation of the world Either before God's Decree of creating the World, or rather, before his executing that Decree in the actual creation of it, i. e. from Eternity, when, nor we, nor the world had a being., that we should be holy and without blame By inherent Grace begun in Regeneration, and carried on in Sanctification and Mortification in this life, though not perfected till the other. Holiness in us is declared here to be not the cause, but the effect of our Election: we are chosen that we may be holy, not because we are, or God foresees we will be holy. before him In the sight of God who is not deceived with an outward appearance, but looks to the Heart. in love As a principal part of our Sanctification, and the best evidence of the fear of God in us, and our obedience to the whole Law..

Having predestinated us to the adoption of children Having appointed us unto a state of Son-ship and right to Glory. This seems to be more than the former, a greater thing to be the Sons of God, and Heirs of Heaven, than to be Holy. by Christ Jesus As Mediatour, and Head of the Elect, and the foundation of all Spiritual Blessings vouchsafed them, and so of this relation into which they are brought, by being united to him. The adopted Children come into that state by the intervention of the natural Son. to himself Either, 1. in himself, i. e. looking no farther than to himself for the cause of, and motive to his adopting them. Or, 2. according to our translation, to himself, i. e. to God. Or, rather, 3. for himself, (as the Syriac renders it) God would have the honour of having many adopted children that should all call him Father. according to the good pleasure of his will His Sovereign grace and good will as the only spring from which predestination issued, God being moved to it by nothing out of himself..

To the praise of the glory of his grace Glory of Grace, by an usual Hebraism, for glorious grace, i. e. large, abundant, admirable. The praise of this Grace the Apostle makes the end of God's choosing and predestinating us to the Adoption of Children. God has chosen us, &c. and therein manifested his Grace to us, that such as it is in it self, such it may be aknowledged to be; and therefore praised and adored by us. wherein In, or through, or by the same Grace out of which he chose us. he has made us accepted in the beloved Having chosen us in Christ, he likewise favours us, is well pleased with us in Christ, to whom we are united, whose Members we are, and in whom God looks upon us. We are hatefull in our selves as Sinners, but accepted in Christ as Sons..

In whom In Christ Godman the immediate worker of this Redemption; for though the Father and the Spirit concur'd to it, yet the Redeeming work was peculiarly terminated in the second person. The other two persons have a right of propriety to Redeem us. Christ only a right of propinquity as assuming our nature, and being of Kin to us. we We elect before mentioned. have redemption Freedom from the Wrath of God, and Curse of the Law to which we are obnoxious, and consequently the Power of Sin and Tyranny of Satan, as the effects of the former. through his bloud i. e. By the Sacrifice of his Death upon the Cross where his Bloud was shed. This was the price of Redemption paid to God for us, and wherewith his justice being satisfied, we could no longer be detained under the custody of the Devil, or the dominion of Sin., even the forgiveness of sins Redemption is not Formally forgiveness, but Casually, forgiveness being the effect of it; and it is mentioned not as the only or adequate, but the prime and principal fruit of Redemption, and upon which the other depend., according to the riches of his grace What he called Glorious Grace, v. 6. here he calls Riches of Grace, meaning plentifull and superabundant Grace, by a Phrase frequently used by him elsewhere in the same sense, Rom. 9.23. ch. 2.4, 7..

Wherein he has abounded In which Grace before mentioned he has abounded toward us; i. e. out of abundance of Grace in himself (called Riches of Grace, v. 7.) he has bestowed upon us wisedom and prudence. The like expression we have, 1 Tim. 1.14. toward us in all This denotes either, the perfections or excellency of it, being in stead of all other wisedom, and more excellent than all else, or All in comparison of what was under the Old Testament. They then had Divine Truths revealed but by parts and parcels, and so a more sparing measure of spiritual wisedom, but under the Gospel, Believers have it more fully and largely, the Spirit of Wisedom, and Revelation being poured out on them. wisedom and prudence Either the Doctrine of the Gospel which contains more perfect, and higher wisedom than that the Greeks sought after, 1 Cor. 1.22. and for lack of which, they counted the Gospel Foolishness; or rather, by Wisedom is understood that Knowledge or Faith whereby we receive Spiritual Truths revealed to us, and to be believed by us, so as to their excellency, and have our hearts affected with them; and by Prudence the Knowledge of the rule of our Duty with skill to govern our selves according to it: And so Wisedom is no other than Faith, and Prudence the same in effect with Holiness; the former relates to the things we are to Believe, the latter to the things we are to Doe. In the working these two in the Soul, consists inward and effectual calling, which the Apostle mentions in this Verse as he does the outward likewise, by the Preaching the Word of the Gospel in the next..

Having made known Having revealed to us outwardly by the Preaching of the Gospel; inwardly by the Illumination of the Spirit. unto us the mystery of his will The whole Doctrine of Grace and Salvation by Christ, which is a secret to others, and had still been so to us, had not God discovered it to us in the Gospel. according to his good pleasure The good pleasure of God, is the fountain of all spiritual Blessings which flow out to us, aswell as it is of our being first chosen and appointed to be the Subjects of them. which he has purposed in himself This signifies a firm setled will in God, either merely of God, and moved by nothing out of himself, or his keeping this purpose in himself till the time appointed for the publication of it..

That in the dispensation In that administration or distribution of the good things of God s house, which he had determined should be in the fulness of time. It is a Metaphor taken from a Steward who distributes and dispenseth according to his Master's order to those that are in the house, Luk. 12.42. The Church is the House of God, God himself the Master of the Family, Christ the Steward that governs the House; those spiritual Blessings mentioned, v. 3. are the good things he gives out. These Treasures of God's Grace had been opened but to a few, and dispensed sparingly under the Old Testament, the more full communication of them being reserved till the fulness of times when they were to be dispensed by Christ. of the fulness of times The time appointed of the Father for the appearance of Christ in the flesh (according to former promises) the promulgation of the Gospel, and thereby the gathering together in one, all things in Christ: It is spoken in opposition to the times and ages before Christ's coming, which God would have run out till the set time came which he had pitched upon, and Believers expected; see Gal. 4.2, 4., he might gather together in one To recapitulate; either to sum up, as men do several lesser numbers in one total sum, which is the foot of the account, but called by the Greeks the head of it, and set at the top; or as Orators do the several parts of their Speeches in fewer words; thus all former prophecies, promises, types and shadows center'd, and were fulfilled, and as it were summed up in Christ: or rather, to unite unto, and gather together again under one head things before divided, and scattered., all things All intellectual beings, or all persons, as Gal. 3.22. in Christ As their head under which they might be united to God, and to each other., both which are in heaven Either Saints departed, who have already obtained Salvation by Christ, or rather the Holy Angels that still keep their first station., and which are on earth The Elect of God among men here upon earth in their several Generations. The meaning of the whole seems to be, that whereas the order and harmony of God's principal Workmanship, Intellectual Creatures, Angels and Men had been disturbed and broken by the entring of Sin into the World; all Mankind, and many of the Angels having Apostatiz'd from him, and the remnant of them being in their own nature labile and mutable; God would in his appointed time, give Christ (the Heir of all things) the Honour of being the repairer of this Breach, by gathering together again the disjointed members of his Creation in and under Christ as their Head and Governour, confirming the good Angels in their good estate, and recovering his Elect among men from their Apostate condition. Though it be true, that not only Believers under the Old Testament were saved, but the Elect Angels confirmed before Christ's coming, yet both the one and the other was with a respect to Christ as their Head, and the foundation of their Union with God, and out of whom, as the one being lost could not have been restored, so the fall of the other could not have been prevented, nor their happiness secured., even in him. Some Copies join the last clause of the former Verse with this, leaving out the relative which, and concluding the sentence at good pleasure, and then reade He purposed in himself that in the dispensation, &c. but most reade it as our Translators have rendred it, only some understand an explicative particle to wit in the beginning of this Verse, To wit, that in the dispensation, &c. but either way the scope of the words is the same, viz. to give the sum of that mystery of God's will mentioned before.

In whom we We Apostles and others Elect of the Iewish Nation, we who first trusted in Christ, v. 12. also have obtained an inheritance Are called, or brought into the participation of an Inheritance, or have a Right given us to it as by lot. In allusion to the twelve Tribes, having in the Division of the Land of Canaan their Inheritances assigned them by lot. He shows that they did not first seek it, much less deserve it, but God cast it upon them: their lot fell in the Heavenly Inheritance when others did not., being predestinated This, aswell as the forementioned privileges, was designed to us by eternal Predestination, and though it be free, and without our procuring, yet in respect of God, it is not casual, but of his ordering. according to the purpose of him who worketh Powerfully and effectually; all things after the councel of his own will i. e. That infinite wisedom of God which is always in conjunction with his will, whereby he acts wisely aswell as freely, and though not by deliberation which falls beneath his infinite perfection, yet with his greatest reason and judgment..

That we should be to the praise of his glory Either 1. Passively, that the excellency and greatness of God's Wisedom, Power, Grace, Mercy, &c. might be shown forth in us by our being predestinated, called, sanctified, saved: or 2. rather Actively, that we by the holiness, obedience, and fruitfulness of our conversations suitable to such privileges, might manifest and set forth the Glory of him that vouchsafed them to us. who first trusted in Christ Who were the fruits of the New Testament Church, the Gospel having been first Preached to the Apostles by Christ himself, and by them to the Iews (their own Nation) and having been first believed by them..

In whom ye Ye Ephesians and other Gentiles. also Here is a defect of the Verb in the Greek, which may be supplied either from v. 11. which seems to be the principal Verb in the sentence, and then it must be read, In whom ye also have obtained an Inheritance: or from v. 12. trusted, which is the nearest Verb, so our Translation, In whom ye also trusted, but neither way makes any difference in the scope of the words. trusted after ye heard the word of truth The Gospel, so called either by an usual Hebraism from the true word, or by way of Eminency, as containing the most excellent and necessary of all Truths, the Doctrine of Righteousness and Life by Jesus Christ; or 3. with respect to the Law and its shadows, the truth and substance of which, is held forth in the Gospel, the gospel of your salvation both in respect of the matter contained in it, the Doctrine of Salvation, and in respect of its efficiency, as being the means whereby God works Faith, and brings to Salvation, Rom. 1.12. Heb. 2.3.; in whom In whom either is to be referred to Believers: q. d. after ye believed in Christ, or to Sealing, and then it shows by virtue of whom this benefit of Sealing is bestowed, viz. by virtue of Christ. also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy spirit Ye were secured and ascertained of your Right to the Inheritance; which we may understand to be done either by the Spirit's impressing upon the Soul, the Image of God in the Work of Regeneration, or because that cannot so well be understood to be after believing) rather by his Testinomy in mens own Consciences afterward, whether immediate by an overpowring light, shining into the Soul, and filling it with assurance of its Interest in Christ and Heaven, or mediate, enabling a man to discern that Image of God in his Soul, by which the Spirit bears Witness to his interest in the Inheritance, and assures him of it; see ch. 4.30. Rom. 8.16. Gal. 4.6. of promise Because the Spirit's coming was before promised, or because he verifies and confirms the Promises, in and to the Hearts of Believers..

Which is the earnest of our inheritance The Spirit given to, and dwelling in Believers by his Gifts and Graces is the earnest or pledge whereby their Inheritance is secured to them, as Men are secured the payment of a promised Sum, by a part given beforehand in earnest for the rest. until the redemption of the purchased possession Either 1. the Redemption of the Possession is put for the Possessing of the Redemption (by an Hypallage) viz. full and final Redemption from Sin, and Death, and Hell, and Satan; which Redemption though perfectly wrought by Christ, is but in part applied in this Life, and is to be fully enjoyed in the other; or 2. rather (though to the same sense) to the full and final Redemption in the end of the World, of all God's people who are here called his Purchased Possession: see the same word so taken, Act 20.28. and 1 Pet. 2.9., unto the praise of his glory The final Salvation, and complete Redemption of God's people, will be especially for the Glory of God, 2 Thess. 1.10..

Wherefore I also, after I heard He was an Eye Witness of their first believing, but here he speaks of their encrease and constancy in the Faith since, of which he had heard by others: of your faith in the Lord Jesus i. e. not barely a Belief of Christ's Excellencies, but a belief of his being their Saviour, their receiving and relying on him as such, and so a Believing in him as the immediate object of their Faith, and him by whom they believed in God, 1. Pet. 1.21., and love to all the saints This is added to show the Truth of their Faith which works by love. Love to the Saints is mentioned as an Evidence of their Love to God, and to all the Saints, to show the sincerity of that Love in its not being partial, but respecting all Saints, and therefore Saints as Saints.,

Cease not to give thanks for you For your Faith and Love, and all the spiritual Blessings God has bestowed upon you. making mention of you in my prayers I not only acknowledge what ye have received, but pray that what is yet lacking in you may be made up..

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ He is the God of Christ not according to Christ's Divine Nature, but his Humane, and as Mediatour, in which respect he was subject to the Father., the Father of glory The most glorious Father, and the Authour of all Glory, and glorious things, and to whom all glory is due. may give unto you the spirit of wisedom A greater measure (for some they already had) of Faith (as v. 9. where it is called Wisedom) or of the knowledge of the things of God, whereof the Spirit is the Authour, God is said to give or send the Spirit, where the Spirit works effectually, and so to give the Spirit of Wisedom, where the Spirit effectually works that Wisedom., and revelation By Revelation he means not extraordinary, such as the Prophets had, but ordinary, such as was common to Believers, and expresseth the manner of the Spirit's working this wisedom, that he does it by removing the covering or veil of natural Ignorance, (Psal. 119.18. Luk. 24.45.) shining into the mind, and making it see what before it saw not; sometimes new objects, sometimes new excellencies in objects before known. Thus the Spirit works not only in the beginning of Faith and spiritual Knowledge, but in its farther progress he lets in new Light into the mind, and removes some remaining degree of natural Darkness. in the knowledge Or Acknowledgement, which may imply an owning, approving, and embracing things before known. of him i. e. God or Christ, or God in Christ: and so either he declares here wherein the Wisedom he mentioned consists, viz. the Knowledge of God and Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of Wisedom and Knowledge: or rather the end of that Wisedom and Revelation, viz. the acknowledgement of God or Christ, when we so know him, as to own him as ours, to embrace, and love, and wholly subject our selves to him, Col. 1.9, 10..

The eyes of your understanding being enlightned Viz. By that Spirit of Revelation: and so this clause explains the former. What the Eye is to the Body, that the Understanding is to the Soul. He prays for a farther degree of Illumination for them., that ye may know what is the hope of his calling Either 1. the object of Hope, the thing hoped for, as Col. 1.5. Gal. 5.5. and then the meaning is, What it is to the Hope of which God has called you by the Gospel. Or 2. the Grace of Hope, q. d. that ye may know how great, and sure, and well grounded that hope is, which by the Gospel is wrought in you., and what the riches of the glory The glorious riches, or the abundant glory; Riches of Glory, and Riches of Grace, v. 7. and Riches of Glory, Rom. 9.23. of his because he is the Father of it: he gives this Glory as the Father of Glory. As Men give Inheritances suitable to their Estates, so God as the God of Glory, and Father of Glory, gives a Glorious Inheritance. inheritance Heaven, called an Inheritance both in respect of Believers Title to it by virtue of their Adoption being Heirs of God, and in respect of the perpetuity of their enjoying it, on which account it is called an Eternal Inheritance, Heb. 9.15. in the Saints or among the Saints, those namely that are perfect, who alone are possessed of the Inheritance, which Saints on earth have only in hope..

And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe He means that Power of God which is put forth in the whole of our Salvation, from first to last: not that absolute power whereby he can doe whatsoever is possible to be done, but his ordinate power, or power joined with his will, whereby not only he will work in raising us up at last, and finally saving us, but has wrought in begetting Faith in us, and does work in still preserving that Faith (1 Pet. 1.5.) and carrying us on in the way of Salvation. And this he speaks for the encouragement of the Ephesians, that they should not fea falling short of the Riches of the Glory of the Inheritance mentioned, seeing God who has by his power brought them to Christ, is able likewise by the same power to bring them to Glory. according to the working of his mighty power Some point the words after us-ward, and reade them, Who believe according to the working of his mighty power, &c. and then the meaning must be, that the working Faith in Believers, is an instance of his mighty power: he has shown his power in working Faith, and therefore will show it in the remainder of Salvation which is to follow. But our Translation favours the former sense, and then as in the preceding Clause he shows the greatness of God's Power, so in this latter the Efficacy of it in its actual Operation, particularly the raising up Christ from the Dead.:

Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead i. e. The PowerGod exerciseth toward Believers is such as that was whereby he raised up Christ from the Dead., and set him at his own right hand Has invested him with the greatest Honour, Dignity, and Power, as Princes set the next in honour, and authority to themselves at their Right Hands: see Mat. 20.21. in the heavenly places In the highest Heaven, called the third Heaven, 2 Cor. 12.2. and Paradise, v. 4.,

Far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion These terms are sometimes applied to Magistrates, and Men in Authority here in the World, Tit. 3.1. Iude 8. sometimes to Angels, Good Ones, Col. 1.16. to Evil Ones, Chap. 6.12. Col. 2.15. though with allusion to Powers in the World, or because by them God puts forth and ex ciseth his Power and Dominion. By these then the Apostle understands good Angels, as ch. 3.10. or comprehensively, all sorts of Powers both visible and invisible, as Col. 1.16. 1 Pet. 3.22., and every name that is named Lest any might think he had not named all above whom Christ is exalted, he adds this, to take all in. Every name, that is, every Person, and every thing which has a Name: whatever has any Dignity or Excellency. not only in this World, but also in that which is to come Because though it has a being at present, yet it is future to us who are not yet possessed of it. Either this Clause relates to Christ's Sitting at his Father's Right Hand, and then it notes the perpetuity of his Reign, that his Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, Luk. 1.33. or rather to the words immediately going before: q. d. if there be any Name, any Dignity or Excellency not known in this Life, and which shall be known in the other; yet be they what they may, Christ is above them all..

And has put all things Either all his Enemies, as Psal. 110.1. all except the Church which is said to be his Body, or all things more generally of which he spake before, Angels and Men; all are made subject to Christ, 1 Pet. 3.22. under his feet put them into a perfect and full subjection to him. Obj. All things are not yet put under him. Ans. 1. All things are so put under him that he can doe with them what he please, break all his enemies in pieces when he will, though for many reasons he yet does it not. 2. They are begun to be subjected to him, and by degrees shall be farther subjected till they be perfectly and absolutely subjected unto him, de facto as already they are de jure, and gave him appointed or constituted or made him. to be head A mystical Head: such a one not only as a King is to his Subjects to Rule them externally by his Laws, but such as a natural Head is to the Body, which it governs by way of Influence, conveying Spirits to it, and so causing and maintaining sense and motion in it, ch. 4.16. Col. 2.19. over all things Either 1. God has chiefly, and above all before mentioned, given Christ to be the Head of the Church; q. d. though he be King and Lord of all, yet God has made him the only proper Head to the Church only; God has set him above Principalities and Powers, but especially has appointed him to be the Head of the Church. Or 2. over all things may be meant for the Communication of all good things to the Church, and performing all Offices of an Head to her: an Head to the Church with a Power over all things for her good. to the Churches The Catholick Church, or whole Collection of Believers throughout the World, and in all Ages of it..

Which is his body i. e. A mystical one, whereof every Member is influenced by the Spirit of Christ the Head, as in the natural Body the Members are influenced by Spirits derived from the natural Head., the fulness of him The Church is called the Fulness of Christ not Personally but Relatively considered, and as Head of the Church: The Head is incomplete without the Body; Christ in his Relative capacity as a Head would not be complete without his mystical Body the Church. that filleth all in all Lest Christ should be thought to have any need of the Church, because of her being said to be his Fulness, it is added, that she her self is filled by Christ. Christ fills all his Body, and all the Members of it with the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit, Chap. 4.10..