Essentials of Ephesians - Lesson 4

We move into the section of Ephesians chapter 1 now where Paul is going to begin praying for the Ephesians, in chapter 1 verses 15 down to verse 23. And as he prays for them, he gives them reasons for why he’s praying for them. And so, in this part of the lecture I’ll speak a bit more slowly and more calmly as I was pretty excited about the material that we talked about in the previous lecture. I’m excited about this as well but I didn’t want you to have the very excited preacher the whole time in this class. I wanted you to see the calm and more reserved one as well 

So, we’re moving to verse 15 and this is where Paul prays for them. And he’s praying for them because he’s heard of their faith, verse 15 says, “The faith that they have in the Lord Jesus,” verse 15, “and the love that they have for all the saints.” So, this is a very encouraging word here because he has just spent time sharing with them that they should praise God for these spiritual blessings that they have (and we have) in Christ. And they believe as Paul writes that the most important way that they can praise God is through their lives lived in obedience to King Jesus. And evidently, they did that because Paul says,” I thank God because of the faith in you,” and he says, “you have love for the saints.” 

See, good theology should move us to love people. And this is convicting because I know there are times in my life where I don’t love the way I should love. I’m not as kind as I should be. I’m not as self-sacrificial as I should be and the gospel reminds us that because of what God has done for us in Christ, because of our faith in him we should manifest love for all the people of God. Not just the people of God, we should also love those who are not Christians. But Paul commends them for loving those who are believers, loving all the saints. 

And he says in verse 16, he doesn’t stop praying for them and what he prays for them is when he thanks God for them, he prays a few things very important. He says, “I pray that,” basically verses 17 and 18 and 19, “that they would grow in their understanding in the salvation that God has given them in Christ.” He wants them to understand how great God’s work is for them in Jesus and he prays that they would grow in their understanding of their inheritance amongst the saints; what it means for them to be believers, how wide and big and how vast God’s work for them. 

It’s a good practical reminder that we need to pray that God would help us to understand what we understand, that he would help us to grow in understanding what we understand from the Scriptures, that we would be overwhelmed with understanding how great his salvation is, how great his love for us is in Christ. And that’s what he prays for them in verses 17 and in 18 and 19. 

And then in verse 19, he makes the point that he wants them to understand that there’s a greatness of God’s power that has been shown toward everyone who believes. Every single believer, as he said in verses 3 through 14, every single believer has experienced God’s saving power in a redemptive way. His power has been displayed upon those who believe in magnificent ways, ways beyond their comprehension And he wants to describe that power in verses 20 through 23. He says, “That power was the same power,” verse 20, “that God displayed in Christ Jesus, that he worked in Christ Jesus when he raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at God’s right hand above all earthly and demonic powers,” verses 21 and 22, “in the heavens and the earth.” 

And then he gives a word of encouragement here in verse 23 and he says that Jesus is filling up the body of Christ with this power. That’s what he means when he says, “The church is the body of Christ,” verse 23, and that “the church is the fullness of the One who is filling up all things, continually.” That Jesus is filling us up with his power, strengthening us and holding us together, as Paul says later in Ephesians, talking about how the body is being built up and strengthened by Christ being exalted at God’s right hand and reigning over all things (chapter 4). And when he ascends, he gives gifts to the body of Christ to build us up and hold us together. And so, Christ manifests his power through the church and fills us up, the church which is his body with the fullness of God. 

Now in chapter 2 verses 1 through 22, I think what Paul does is he further explains these spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. So that he’s not turning to a new topic really but instead he’s turning to a further explanation of what it means for us to have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ by describing what our situation was before God worked in us to believe the gospel in 2:1-10. 

And then in 2:11 through 22, he describes the Jew/Gentile unity we have in Jesus as Jews and Gentiles are now because of God’s work of salvation created into one new man in whom the Spirit dwells. 

But notice in chapter 2 verses 1 through 10, he first says, “You all were dead, you were dead,” 2:1, “in your trespasses and in your sins. And you, as a result,” verse 2, “you formerly walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit which is now working in the sons of disobedience.” Paul basically means here in verse 2 that these Gentiles (and in a moment he’ll show us that this was true of the Jews as well – verse 5), that these Gentiles were dead In their trespasses and sins. We Gentiles were dead in our trespasses and sins, and that we had no spiritual life in God because of that deadness. And we lived our lives in rebellion against God, walking as servants to, slaves to the anti-God powers, the chief of which is the ruler of the air, which is the devil. 

And then he says in verse 3, “As a result of that we were in living formerly in the desires of our flesh.” Now notice in verse 3, he groups himself with this way of living, that he, the Jew… It is fascinating to me that Saul of Tarsus, remember that man Saul of Tarsus in the Book of Acts? He was wreaking havoc against the church, he was agreeing with Stephen’s death; he was dragging men and women to jail because of their faith in Jesus. He was trying to destroy the church of God until God revealed his Son in him. And also, we know that he says in Philippians chapter 3, “He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, he was a zealous Pharisee;” that he, in 2 Corinthians tells us chapter 11, that he had a bright, beautiful, glorious Jewish tradition of which he was proud. 

But here he lets us know that now that he’s come to know Christ. He understands that his life prior to Christ was one of slavery, bondage, walking in darkness as he was living contrary to the one and true God of Israel, living contrary to the one and true God of Abraham by persecuting the church of God which worshipped the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ. And so, he understands in verse 3, in light of the fact that Jesus Christ was the Lord and prior to Christ revealing himself to Paul, he did not worship Jesus as Lord. “He walked therefore in darkness,” verse 3, and he conducted himself he says, “We did in the lust of our flesh.” 

When Paul talks about flesh in his writings, sometimes he used the term ‘flesh’ to talk about the body – “The life I now live in the flesh,” he says in Galatians chapter 2, “I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” His use of “flesh” there relates to his body. It’s not a sinful flesh he’s talking about; he’s just talking about being a human. 

In a similar way John’s Gospel chapter 1 verse 4 said, “The Word became flesh,” describing Jesus who became a man. And when John says the Word became flesh, he does not mean Jesus became sin and by becoming a human being that Jesus is somehow sinful. That’s not John’s point. But he means that Jesus became a human being, that’s what he means by flesh there. 

Here however in Ephesians chapter 2 when he links flesh with desires, he’s talking about flesh I think as a power, that is as a realm. Desires that come from the realm of the flesh. I think this is right because this word “flesh” is also linked with the anti-god powers. If you jump back to verse 2, he says we formerly walked in our sins according to the age of this world. This present evil age is the age of darkness. It’s the age that is ruled by the principalities and powers of the air and the chief anti-god power, namely the devil. Of course, as I’ve said, God is sovereign over the present evil age, sovereign over all things in heaven and earth, sovereign over everything earthly and demonic. However, there is a real evil age in which we live. 

And Paul says he was a slave to that age prior to his faith In Jesus Christ and that they did the desires of the flesh. They lived in accordance with darkness, he says, “We lived in accordance with darkness and as a result we,” verse 3, “were destined for wrath, we were children of wrath just as the rest of the sons of disobedience.” Wrath here refers to God’s future day of wrath when God will pour out wrath on those at the end of history who rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and pour wrath upon those at the end of history who rejected Israel’s one and true God in the Old Testament era. 

And Paul makes a very powerful point here that the wrath of God is upon anyone, or is promised to come upon anyone, who does not trust in Jesus Christ. We’re justified by faith not by election. Election guarantees the elect will be saved. But notice Paul says, “Even though God chose him in Christ before the foundation of the world, before he came to Christ he was headed toward God’s wrath. But thankfully God worked to rescue him from that wrath,” verse 4, “and to rescue us from that wrath.” 

He says in verse 4, “But God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which He loved us even when we were dead,” verse 5, “in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. You are saved by grace.” What he means here is that God acted in history to give us a spiritual resurrection. 

So, if you think about Ezekiel chapter 36 and 37, that’s exactly what Paul is saying God did. The promise to pour out his Spirit on all flesh, God’s Spirit on all flesh and to sprinkle them with clean water and to resurrect their hearts from the dead, that promise is realized in the Messianic Age. And that promise is realized in the lives of individual people who trust in the Jewish Messiah. And that life is realized because God himself raised us; God, as he promised in Ezekiel 36 and 37, causes us to be made alive by putting his Spirit within us. 

So, Paul says, “We were dead but God, but God loved us with the great love by raising us from the dead in Christ.” Remember he chose us in love, Ephesians 1:4. He predestined us unto adoption. His love in choosing and predestining us manifested itself by means of him working it out so that we would hear the gospel, respond to the gospel by faith when we believed. And then God by the Spirit granted us faith, circumcised our hearts, to say it the way Paul says it: “He raised us to life with Christ.” Now feel the weight of the imagery here. God physically resurrected Jesus from the dead and God displayed that same power in our lives when he saved us. And Paul is now saying that we are raised, resurrected, we’re reigning, we’re living like Christ is alive right now at God’s right hand, we have been made to live, we are raised to life. 

Now right now we don’t see the physical resurrection in our own lives. But we know the physical resurrection is certain because we have been resurrected from the dead to have faith in the Messiah. And we are living our lives as people filled with the Spirit, raised to life by God in anticipation of a future resurrection which is yet to come. So that we are reigning with Christ right now as we live on earth. But there will be a day when Jesus will bring that kingdom from heaven and reign comprehensively over all things on earth, in a real glorified world and that day we are awaiting when we will receive a physical resurrection, bodily resurrection. 

But the promise of the future resurrection has already broken into this present evil age right now. It’s already disrupted the kosmos, the anti-god powers, the anti-god kingdom right now because God raised us to life with Christ, he resurrected us. And this is what he says, isn’t it when he says in verse 6, “He seated us, raised us and seated us in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.” Jesus is seated, he said in chapter 1, at God’s right hand. We are raised and we are seated in Christ. Christ is reining overall. So, we reign over all in Christ right now, waiting for that reign to come to earth. But we have a taste of that reign right now because we’re sealed with the Spirit. So, he says, “God did this so that he would demonstrate in the ages which are coming the surpassing wealth of his gift In kindness, toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Now in 2:5, notice that he gives us this parenthetical statement after he says that we were dead in trespasses and sins, he says, “You are saved by grace.” He returns to that in 2:8 and 9, by elaborating a bit on that. He says, “You are saved by grace through faith and this not from you. It’s the gift of God not by work so that someone should not boast.” When Paul says you are saved by grace through faith this not of yourselves, the this that is not of yourselves is the grace and the faith, the whole salvation package is the this. 

So, one thing Paul is pressing strongly here in the letter is that salvation is God’s work. It’s not a human work. Faith is not a human work. “Faith is a gift,” he says, “it’s from God,” which means the reason why you and I have faith in Christ is because God created faith within us. 

That’s what he means, I think when he says, “He raised us alive together with Christ.” Think of that resurrection to life with Christ, think of that as what we call regeneration. That we are raised to life and guess what because we’re raised to life, God resurrected our dead hearts. We were dead and God breathed life into us through the gospel. What he’s doing in us is giving us a heart that’s transformed, giving us life so that we would have faith. So, this new birth creates faith in us. 

We do not, brothers and sisters, choose to follow Jesus and then we are raised from death to life. We’re raised from death to life because God works in us and gives us faith. And when God gives us the gift of faith through his resurrection of us from the dead, we respond to that work by expressing we want Jesus. This is a supernatural work. This is why Paul says that salvation is a gift from God. The gift comes to us and what does the gift do? It transforms the recipient and it makes us respond as worthy recipients with the life yielded to God. 

The reason why this is so, is because Paul says, verse 10, “We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.” I think he means we are recreated in Christ Jesus. This is new creation language here. Later in the letter in chapter 2 he talks about in 2:11 through 22, this one new man that God’s created us to be. And here he’s anticipating that discussion by saying, “Those of us who have been raised to walk in newness of life, those of us who have been raised and seated with Christ in the heavenly places, those of us whom God has given the gift of salvation, given the gift of faith, that we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus, newly created to do good works.” 

Here he’s not talking about those good works being works of the law. The phrase “works of the law” occurs nowhere in the letter to the Ephesians. He’s making the point that God creates us to be holy and godly in Christ, that is, he saves us to be holy, godly, to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. In fact, he says this too was part of God’s predestinarian plan. He says, “We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.” 

Now notice this relative clause “which” (that’s called a relative pronoun) “which God prepared beforehand.” What did God prepare beforehand? He prepared good works beforehand. When did he prepare good works? “Before the foundation of the world,” Ephesians 1:3 or excuse me 1:4 and 5. He prepared these beforehand. Why did He prepare them? So that we would walk in them. 

So, here’s the good news of the gospel. God justifies us by faith and he sanctifies us by faith. The entire salvation experience is a gift of God holistically. That’s good news. We don’t live the Christian life by ourselves. It is not “Let go and let God.” God is not this detached god who’s who creates us and we somehow figure out a way to get saved and he steps back from the process. But God’s entire redemptive plan includes predestination, election, adoption, the gift of the Spirit, the hearing of the gospel, the reception of the gospel, forgiveness of sins, sealing of the Spirit, inheritance of a kingdom, and sanctification. We’re sanctified in Christ positionally, but we also can live a holy life because of Christ. God does all of that. 

And here’s a practical word – God works in us so that we would walk in good works. So, guess what? If we don’t walk in good works then we won’t walk in good works. That is, it’s God’s design for us to walk in the good works in which he prepared us to walk, but we must also be personally responsible and make a conscious decision every single day to choose to follow Jesus. Otherwise, why does Paul give commands in chapters four and five to walk in a manner worthy of our calling? God creates us, creates in us faith and eternal life, and new life. He prepared us for good works and we must therefore walk in those good works. 

So, if you think of it, think of it in terms of agency. Before Christ worked, before God worked in our lives, we had no spiritual agency. We were dead, Ephesians 2:1 to 10. We had no ability to choose God. Dead people will not choose life, ever. Let’s practice this. After you finish this lecture, go to your local cemetery and tell the dead person buried at that cemetery, pick a grave, and say, “Dead person, arise!” He’s not going, or she’s not going, to arise. Dead people will not choose life. 

By way of analogy, spiritually dead people don’t choose life. So, God must take the initiative and create life within them and he does through the gospel by the Spirit because he chose us in Christ. But when God raises us from the dead, he gives us—hear this—free moral agency. In Christ Jesus we have the Spirit and we have the supernatural ability in Christ to choose a life pleasing to God. We have what we call moral agency. 

When I say moral agency, I mean, I can and I must walk in a manner worthy of my calling in Christ because God has worked in me to do that. And that’s true for every Christian so that no Christian should live a defeatist Christian life. No Christian should walk around thinking that they’re predestined to be ungodly, because it’s God’s will for them to be godly. He predestined us to be godly. But if we want to be godly, we must proactively lean into the Spirit, the supernatural resource God has given to us and proactively choose to be godly. To walk in the good works for which God prepared us to walk. 

Now it’s important to remember that this is not bootstrap religion. This is not, “Well, just try really hard to be godly.” No, this is “God has created you to be godly in Christ.” So then, you rely upon the Spirit, you rely upon the Word of God, you sit under preaching, you be involved in your church, you utilize the spiritual resources that help you pursue a life pleasing to God by walking in the good works for which he prepared you to walk. And then you go walk in them, such as chapters 4, 5, and 6. You love one another. Be patient, kind, use your gifts to build up the church. Forgive as Christ forgave. Imitate God. Avoid sexual sin. Avoid gossip and slander. Pursue sexual purity. Honor God’s plan for the marriage. Show honor to people who are above you in life insofar as it is possible to show honor, so on and so forth. God in Christ creates us, recreates us, to live a godly life. This is part of his salvific redemptive plan and that’s what Paul was saying in 2:1 to 10. 

Now in 2:11 through 22, he makes the point that God has worked to bring about the inclusion of the Gentiles. This is so very important. This is one reason why it’s so helpful to understand the Old Testament promises behind these verses. In the Old Testament God promised to bring about salvation for his people Israel, promised to bring about restoration of Israel, promised to bless Abraham. 

If you remember in the Chronicles and Kings, we see stories of the Syrian exile, 722 BC and the Babylonian exile, 586 BC. The northern part of the kingdom and the southern part of the kingdom go into exile. The kingdom was unified but Solomon’s sin caused it to divide and to be split between northern and southern kingdoms. And God raised up these Gentile, these Gentile nations to bring judgment against the Northern Kingdom and then judgment against the Southern Kingdom. And when they were in exile and in judgment the Lord promises through the prophets that he’s going to deliver Israel out of exile, bring them into their land, give them restoration. And he’s going to include Gentiles into those saving promises because Abraham, who was a Gentile, was given a promise by God to receive land, seed, and universal blessing. And David who was a Jew was given a promise by God to receive a seed, a descendant who would reign over his kingdom forever. And Paul’s point is that descendant, that seed has been given, and that descendant is Jesus Christ. 

And so, Gentiles, who have no natural connection to the promises of God to Jews are included in those promises by means of the Jewish Messiah. And Gentiles have those promises, or Jews rather, have those promises extended to them, not by means of the law but by means of trusting in the Jewish Messiah. 

So, Jews and Gentiles in Christ have now become one new man in Christ Jesus through the gospel because Jesus died on the cross to put to death, the dividing wall, namely the law, which separated Jews and Gentiles from one another. And “God’s made them into one new humanity,” reconciled is the word there in verse 15, “into one new humanity.” Or in verse 16 rather, “into one new humanity, making the two groups: Jews and Gentiles, who are still different in Christ, but they are now one in Christ.” They are one as Jews and Gentiles in Christ. Not by becoming Jews or by becoming Gentiles. Gentiles don’t have to become Jews and Jews don’t have to become Gentiles in Christ, but they are transformed Jews and transformed Gentiles in Christ Jesus. And they share in the same spiritual blessings because the Messiah gives them those blessings the same way: by faith. 

Now that truth is what Paul develops really in chapter 3 verse 2 to chapter 3 verse 10. We’ve already talked about that a bit so I’m not going to read those verses again. But just know those verses are there for you to see Paul explaining this further where he explicates the fact that Gentiles and Jews in Christ are sharing in the same spiritual blessings. 

One thing I will highlight here though is the fact that the Spirit of God is living in both Jews and Gentiles by faith and in Christ Jesus, Jews and Gentiles become a temple in whom God dwells by the Spirit. The temple in Israel’s day was a significant building that symbolized God’s presence with his people, God’s favor upon his people, but there was also this massive temple in Ephesus called the temple of Artemis. So, you have this Jewish temple representing the one and true God of Israel. You have this pagan temple, namely Artemis, representing this pagan deity that the Ephesians would have worshiped before they came to faith in Jesus. And Paul was saying, “Here’s something that neither one of those two temples experienced. The actual experience of allowing Jews and Gentiles to be unified by the Spirit.” In fact, an inscription warned on the Jerusalem temple, Gentiles from going too far beyond the Court of the Gentiles lest they perish. But in Christ Jesus, Jews and Gentiles, they don’t go to the temple together, they are the temple in whom the Spirit of God is dwelling, according to Paul in chapter 2.