1972 Ephesians Enhanced Notes

from R. B. Thieme, Jr.

I have noticed that many of the doctrines are repeated a few lessons later.

These notes are mostly existing notes, many portions taken almost word-for word. I have added an index, links and a few other things. This entire document is nearly 850 pages, but the actual notes for the 1972 Ephesians series are about 540 pages.

Bob re-taught Ephesians in 1985 in 1414 lessons (as opposed to 113 lessons in this 1972 series).

Updated August 14, 2024.

The base text used will be the Berean Literal Bible (used until Bob’s translation is determined)

Doctrines Found in the 1972 study of Ephesians:

I am wondering if these might be better done as two columns? Previously I grouped them in tables.

The Doctrine of Adultery

The Doctrine of Adultery (2)

Age of Israel versus the Church Age

Alcohol and Filling of the Spirit

The Analogy Man and the Body, Christ and the Church

The Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict

The Doctrine of Adoption

Ambassadorship

The Doctrine of Apostleship

The Doctrine of Apostleship (2)

The Doctrine of the Ascension

The Doctrine of Authority

The Balance of Residency

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit (2)

The Baptism of the Spirit (3)

The Doctrine of Bitterness

The Blackout of the Soul

The Blood of Christ

The Doctrine of the Blood

The Doctrine of the Body of Christ

The Doctrine of the Body of Christ (2)

The Doctrine of Category #2 Love

Christ’s Love for us

The Church

The Doctrine of the Church

The Doctrine of Circumcision

The Classification of Death

The Doctrine of a Day at a Time

The Deity of the Holy Spirit

The Seven Points of the Devil (The Devil’s Seven)

The Devil’s Seven

The Devil’s Seven (2)

Diakonos

The Doctrine of Didaskô

The Doctrine of Dispensations

The Doctrine of Dispensations (2)

The Doctrine of Divine Decrees

The Doctrine of Divine Essence

The Doctrine of Divine Good

Divine Guidance

The Biblical Doctrine of Drinking

The Edification Complex of the Soul

The Doctrine of Election

The Doctrine of Election (2)

The Enslaved Male

The Pauline Epistles Fall into Four General Categories

The Doctrine of Faith-rest

The Five Uses of ἐπουράνιος

The Doctrine of Gap

The Doctrine of Gap (2)

The Doctrine of GAP (3)

The Doctrine of Glory

The Doctrine of Glory (2)

The Doctrine of Glory (3)

The Doctrine of Grace

The Doctrine of Grace (2)

The Doctrine of Grace (3)

The Regular Uses of the Greek Article

Hardness of the Heart

The Doctrine of the Head

The Doctrine of the Heart

The Doctrine of the Heavenlies

The Doctrine of the Heavenlies (2)

The Doctrine of Human Good

The Doctrine of Human Good (2)

The Doctrine of the Human Spirit

The Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union

The Doctrine of Idolatry

The Principle of Imitating “Your God”

The Principle of Imitating God

The Principle of Imitating God (2)

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit (2)

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit (3)

The Importance of Bible Doctrine

The Importance of Bible Doctrine to the Believer Priest

The Indwelling of Jesus Christ

The Doctrine of Inheritance (Heirship)

The Doctrine of Inspiration

The Intensification of the Angelic Conflict

The Doctrine of Intercalation

The Isagogics of a Seal

The Doctrine of Light

The Doctrine of Love

The Loving Husband

The Man and How He Treats His Body

The Manifestation of the Bride

The Manifestation of the Bride (2)

The Middle Voice

The Millennium: What Can Be Expected?

The Doctrine of the Mystery

The Doctrine of the Mystery (1)

Occupation with the Person of Jesus Christ

The Doctrine of the Old Sin Nature

The Doctrine of the Old Sin Nature (2)

Areas of Parental Training

Parents and Children

The Paronomasia

The Doctrine of Pastor-teacher

The Phallic Cult

Pimps in the Ancient World

The Doctrine of Plêroô (πληρόω)

The Doctrine of Plêroô (πληρόω) (2)

The Doctrine of the Poor

The Doctrine of Positional Truth (2)

Positional Truth [“In Christ”]

Four Words for Power (Summary)

The Doctrine of Prayer

The Doctrine of Predestination

Principle of Production

The Doctrine of Propitiation

Doctrine of the Rapture

The Doctrine of Rebound

The Doctrine of Rebound (2)

The Doctrine of Reconciliation

The Doctrine of Redemption

The Doctrine of Resurrection

The Doctrine of Reversionism

What Is the Royal Family?

The Doctrine of the Royal Family

The Doctrine of the Royal Family (2)

The Doctrine of the Royal Family (3)

The Doctrine of Sanctification

The Doctrine of Sanctification (2)

The Doctrine of Sanctification (3)

Scar Tissue of the Soul

The Sealing Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Sins Against the Holy Spirit

The Doctrine of Spiritual Gifts

The Stages of Reversionism

The Stages of Reversionism (2)

The Doctrine of Right Man, Right Woman

The Sin unto Death

The Doctrine of Spirituality

The Doctrine of the Supergrace Life

The Doctrine of Supergrace (2)

The Doctrine of Supergrace (3)

Taboos for the Divorcee

Taboos for Widows

Taboos in the Selection of a Mate

Meanings of Teknon

The Doctrine of the Tongue

Tychicus

The Doctrine of Walking

The Doctrine of Walking (2)

The Doctrine of Walking (3)

A Classification of Verbs for Walking

Walking in the Sphere of Love

Witnessing

Woman Rearing a Male Child

Woman’s Response to a Man

Woman’s Submission to Her Husband

1972 Ephesians                                                                                             Lesson #1

1 08/10/1972 Ephesians 1:1 Prothesis (πρόθεσις) [pronounced PROTH-es-is]; doctrine of apostleship

Chapter 1

The literal translation of the first six verses of this chapter (by R. B. Thieme, Jr.):

Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through God’s purpose, will and design, to those being saints and faithful in Christ Jesus

Ephesians 1:2 Grace to you and peace, from the ultimate source of God our Father, and Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:3 Worthy of praise and glorification the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one having provided us benefits by every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ

Ephesians 1:4 Even as He has chosen us for Himself in Him before the beginning of the world, that we keep on being saints and blameless in the presence of Him:

Ephesians 1:5 In love having predesigned us with the result of the appointment of adult sons for Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the benevolent purpose from His will,

Ephesians 1:6 Resulting in recognition of glory from the source of his grace, from which He has pursued us with grace in the One having been loved.

The whole objective of the epistle is to demonstrate how God pursues the supergrace believer with grace. The subject of the chapter is the prothesis (πρόθεσις) [pronounced PROTH-es-is] of God — God’s pre designed plan. Think of things in terms of prothesis (πρόθεσις) [pronounced PROTH-es-is],

God gave Paul about 15 years during which to write these books of the New Testament.

The true destination of Ephesians. The stated destination in Ephesians 1:1, “at Ephesus,” is not found in the original text. This phrase is not found in any of the better MSS. Basil the Great (329–379) testifies that it was never found in any of the ancient MSS. The absence of a personal greeting plus the fact that Paul does not call the believers “Beloved brethren” indicates that this epistle was a circular letter rather than written to one church. Actually it is a circular letter to the churches in the Roman province of Asia, the seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3. The fact that the benedictions of this epistle are in the third person rather than the second person also indicates that this is a circular letter. There is also a patristic evidence which favours a circular letter to the Roman province of Asia coming from Tertullian and Origen. So there is no question about the fact that this was addressed to a number of churches. This also explains why the content varies a little bit from Colossians which was addressed to one church only.

By way of background information, this letter was written by Paul from Roman imprisonment in 62 AD. Both Ephesians and Colossians were delivered by Tychicus. Onesimus was the bearer of Philemon. Ephesians was designed to correct reversionism in the Roman province of Asia. And not only to correct reversionism but to erect edification complexes and to ultimately move the believers into the supergrace life.

Again, the first chapter is the prothesis (πρόθεσις) [pronounced PROTH-es-is] of God or the predetermined plan of God. The last chapter relates to the angelic conflict. The word prothesis (πρόθεσις) [pronounced PROTH-es-is] is taken from the Greek. Thesis (θέσις) [pronounced THEH-sihs] is taken from tithêmi (τίθημι) [pronounced TITH-ā-mee] which means to appoint, to plan; pro means beforehand. So it means a predetermined plan. In this case the predetermined plan and purpose of God. It also means a way of thinking.

Verse 1 & 2, the salutation of the epistle.

Ephesians 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints being in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: (BLB)

Verse 1 — “Paul.” Paûlos (Παλος) [pronounced POW-loss], a proper noun meaning “little.” His name was originally Saul of Tarsus but at the point of salvation he took on the name of Paul — Acts 13:9. This is his adopted name of grace orientation.

Some Baptists think they go back to John the Baptizer; but he lived during the Age of Israel. He did not start any church because he lost his head before the Church Age began. All of these great communicators used tough language (Paul, John the Baptizer and Jesus).

Paul was a genius and great in every human way. Paul was a great killer of Christians (?).

Prinomen (your given name), nomen (your tribe) and the cognomen (your family name). Original Romans had all three of these. Gaius Julius (the Julian tribe, very famous tribe) Cæsar. Publius Cornelius Skippio. He was also called Skippio Africanus based on his great military victory in Africa.

Paul was added in the antithesis of achievement. Saulos Benjamin Tarsus.

Paul is the human author. God-breathed, inhale and exhale. Paul, with setting aside his personal feeling or vocabulary, wrote the epistle to the Ephesians (but, actually, a circular letter, not to the Ephesians).

The inhale comes through gap; and the exhale is his writing. The Holy Spirit communicated the information for this epistle perhaps in a.d. 62. He does not sit down and say, spirit speak. Paul studied a lot and after that, he wrote. God does not take the untrained and unstudied mind and give it anything. Paul was a great student.

Police officers in the congregation, under authority; and they do not give out tickets, because they are students.

“apostle” — apostolos (ἀπόστολος) [pronounced ap-OSS-tol-oss] without the definite article. It does not mean “one sent.” Apostolos (ἀπόστολος) [pronounced ap-OSS-tol-oss] from the fifth century BC to the present time means admiral of the fleet. There were two great Peloponnesian wars where Athens was defeated by Sparta. This means admiral of the fleet; this is not somebody sent from point A to point B. This word means rank and authority. He is responsible for many lives and many ships. This is not some bosun who steps aboard a ship and says, “I am the one sent, I’m an apostle.” There have been no apostles since a.d. 96.

 The reason this word became the word for the highest rank in the church is because some of the admirals were getting rich. The Spartans had a lot of money and were bribing them to throw the battle. There was this u-shaped bench, and there are all of these high level people sitting there. And there are six or seven top ranking admirals. A messenger with this envelope comes to the admirals, and only one of them has been chosen. He is given a Marine escort for the seven miles to the ship. So a plan was devised whereby the admiral would be selected from a group just before a battle, after which he was escorted all the way to the harbour, put on the ship, and he was the one sent by the rulers of Athens to command the fleet. As the word is used in Christianity it represents absolute dictatorship. Paul was in command of all the churches. Peter was in command of all the churches. These men were in charge of starting churches and selecting pastors (who were not elected). The pastor-teacher is the highest remaining rank.

The gift of apostleship not only carried this great authority but it had along with it communication. This was a temporary gift, it did not exist beyond the canon of scripture. The writers of the New Testament were all apostles or (in two cases) one associated with an apostle. Mark associated with Peter; Luke associated with Paul.

One other point of syntax. All nouns have quality and identity. Identity is indicated by the definite article; quality is indicated by omission of the definite article. There is no definite article with “apostle” and therefore the quality of the gift is emphasized.

“of Jesus Christ” — as an apostle of Jesus Christ Paul belongs to Him. Christou (χριστο) [pronounced krees-TOO] Iêsou (̓Ιησο) [pronounced ee-ay-SOO], two genitives. Paul is talking about his authority and his authority is in Christou (χριστο) [pronounced krees-TOO] which means “appointed” by God, commissioned by God. “Jesus” [Iêsou (̓Ιησο) [pronounced ee-ay-SOO]] is the name for His humanity but Christos (χριστός) [pronounced krees-TOHSS] is not a name, it is a title — anointed one, appointed one. The Father appointed Jesus, Jesus appointed Paul. Both words occur in the genitive case which is a case of definition and description. Here we have both the genitive of description and the genitive of possession. Paul belongs to Jesus Christ and we have the description of his appointment, the source of his appointment.

“by the will of God” is literally, “through the will of God,” dia plus the genitive singular of thelêma (θέλημα) [pronounced THEHL-ay-mah] which means will, purpose, design. All three words are pertinent here. Plus the genitive of possession of theos (θεός) [pronounced theh-OSS]. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through God’s will, purpose, and design.” Notice again the absence of the definite article. This places qualitative emphasis on the noun rather than its mere identity. This draws attention to the quality of the will, design, and purpose as well as the essence of God — theos (θεός) [pronounced theh-OSS]. Since God is perfect His will, His design, and His purpose are perfect.

“to the saints” — the dative plural from hagios (ἅγιος) [pronounced HA-gee-oss]. The dative case is used here for the indirect object to indicate the ones in whose interest the epistle was written. This epistle was written on your behalf and in your interest. It is a dative plural. Every believer is a saint, and because he is in union with Christ, not because he is good. This is also a dative of advantage. It is to your advantage to have this information.

“which are” — there is no “which”. There is the definite article plus the dative plural present active participle from eimi (εἰμί) [pronounced eye-ME]. That means you are alive! It should be translated “to those being saints.” This is for believers, for those who are born again. Present tense, linear aktionsart: once saved, always saved.

1972 Ephesians                                                                                             Lesson #2

2 08/17/1972 Ephesians 1:1b–2 Doc/sanctification; function of Trinity in prothesis (πρόθεσις) [pronounced PROTH-es-is]/God

Bob reads his corrected translation of the entire chapter.

Ephesians 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints being in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: (BLB)

The saints are those to whom this epistle was written.

This epistle was written to be circulated among the churches which are all mentioned in Revelation.

“to the faithful” — the word for “faithful” is again a dative plural from pistós (πιστός) [pronounced pis-TOSS]. It is correctly translated “faithful.” It is used of God in certain passages such as 1Corinthians 1:9; 10:13; 1Thessalonians 5:24; Hebrews 10:23; 1Peter 4:19; 1John 1:9 (but not here). So the noun is used for God and whenever it is it indicates His immutability, which indicates stability. This word is also used for believers in the technical sense of those who are responding to doctrine, positive toward doctrine, growing up spiritually, building an ECS, and moving toward the supergrace life. It does not refer to believers who are either spiritual morons or in some stage of reversionism. The dative case is again used as the indirect object and it is used to indicate the ones in whose interest the letter is written, and that refers to all believers who study this epistle. It is of no benefit to those who do not study it. Ephesians is an epistle for those who are positive toward doctrine.

“in Christ Jesus” — the preposition en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative of Iêsous (̓Ιησος) [pronounced ee-ay-SOOCE], the proper name for the Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity, and Christos (χριστός) [pronounced krees-TOHSS] which has to do with His commission, His appointment.

Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, through God’s purpose, will and design, to those being saints, and faithful in Christ Jesus.

In this salutation everything that is connected with our relationship with God at the point of salvation is mentioned or suggested. At the moment of salvation we receive 36 things which can never be improved. For example, the baptism of the Spirit, regeneration, the sealing of the Spirit, the spiritual gifts, and so on. These things received at the point of salvation are non-improvable. Our capacity to appreciate them and our capacity for blessing is going to come out of our spiritual growth but spiritual growth does not mean improving positional truth or the things we received at salvation.

Illustration: If your parents were good parents, then, after experiencing some growth and maturity, you will appreciate them. The better your parents are, the longer it may take to appreciate them.

At some point, you might appreciate the country in which you live. We have possibly the greatest country since Rome. Cowards do not appreciate it; people without responsibility do not appreciate it. People who do not appreciate authority will not appreciate our country.

Some people have only abused their freedom, and therefore, they do not appreciate anything.

So, as a believer, you begin to appreciate your life the more that you grow spiritually. It takes a supergrace life to appreciate what you receive at salvation. You do not experience these things and therefore, do not appreciate them, at the moment of salvation.

Ephesians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 2 — the principle behind all of this. “Grace” — the noun charis (χάρις) [pronounced KHAHR-iç] is without the definite article. It means everything that God has done for us. Charis (χάρις) [pronounced KHAHR-iç] depends on who and what God is. It is the name of the plan of God, the principle of the plan of God, and the only word that explains the concept that God is perfect and therefore His plan has to be perfect. The absence of the definite article calls attention to the quality of the noun in the Greek language. This focuses attention on the concept that everything depends on who and what God is, nothing depends on us.

Hustling, surrendering and sincerity are traps in the Christian life. They do not move the believer forward in any way.

“to you” — the dative plural from the personal pronoun su, and it includes not only the original recipients but all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The dative is used as the indirect object to emphasize the ones in whose interest the epistle is written. This epistle is written in your personal interest.

“and peace” — the noun eirênê (εἰρήνη, ης, ἡ) [pronounced eye-RAY-nay]. It means benefit, welfare, tranquillity, and prosperity. In other words, it is simply a synonym for blessing. Here it connotes prosperity. The believer becomes prosperous through the intake of Bible doctrine. It denotes benefit. The believer is benefited by the intake of Bible doctrine. It denotes welfare in the true biblical sense, not in the communist sense! Therefore the believer’s welfare is directly related to the amount of doctrine which he absorbs into his soul. Also, when you have the first three meanings you have tranquillity. Tranquillity of soul is based upon Bible doctrine. So we have benefits accruing through the daily function of GAP and this is in effect the subject of the epistle.

“from God” — the preposition apó (ἀπό) [pronounced aw-PO] plus the ablative singular of theos (θεός) [pronounced theh-OSS] referring to God the Father. God the Father has a marvelous plan for all believers.

“our Father” — the ablative of patêr (πατήρ) [pronounced pat-AYR] is added so that we will know the planner is involved here.

This comes to us from Sanscrit and it is found in Latin and Greek and in nearly all of the indo-European languages.

“and our Lord Jesus Christ” — also in the ablative and refers to the second person in the Trinity and the one by whom we understand God and everything related to God. If there is any key to grace it is in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ — first His incarnation and then His work upon the cross. “Lord” — the ablative of kurios (κύριος) [pronounced KOO-ree-oss] is used for the deity of Christ.

Two Members of the Trinity; five words to speak about them; and all of these words have no definite article, meaning that they speak to the quality of these nouns more than to the identity of them. The Holy Spirit is not mentioned, because the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ and not Himself. The Holy Spirit is never mentioned in salutations; only in benedictions. This is compatible with John 7:39 16:14. All Members of the Trinity are co-equal.

We now have in verses 3 through 14 the longest sentence of connected discourse in any language in history. While the English text has a period at the end of verse 6, the end of verse 12, and the end of verse 14, there are no periods in the Greek. This is all one sentence. This sentence describes the function of the Trinity under the divine plan, operation grace.

The long sentence or the function of the Trinity in the prothesis. Ephesians 1:3–14. This is the second section.

In verses 3-6 we have the function of God the Father in the prothesis (πρόθεσις) [pronounced PROTH-es-is].

Bob begins to work on v. 3 in lesson #2.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One having blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms,...

Verse 3 begins with a verbal adjective, eulogêtos (εὐλογητός) [pronounced yoo-log-ay-TOSS]. This is used only of deity in the New Testament. In other forms where the Koine Greek is used you will fond it for people but in the New Testament the word is used only for deity, as in Luke 1:68.

This is actually taken from the participle eulogeô (εὐλογέω) [pronounced you-lohg-EH-oh]. This is a verb which looks very similar which means to praise. Since eulogêtos (εὐλογητός) [pronounced yoo-log-ay-TOSS] is a verbalised adjective it means “worthy of praise and glorification.” The verb means to praise. It is broken down from two words, eû (ε) [pronounced yoo] = good or well; légô (λέγω) [pronounced LEH-goh] = to speak. It is a technical word, one of the high words of praise used only for God, along with another one, épainos (ἔπαινος) [pronounced EHP-ahee-noss] epeinos (ἐπεινος) [pronounced ehp-ein-oss], which is “super praise.” [e)inoj = praise; épainos (ἔπαινος) [pronounced EHP-ahee-noss] = over praise] I had difficulty locating either of these words with the appropriate meanings. ἐπεινος I could not find at all; and εινος I could find, but not with this meanings found here.

This word (ἐπεινος) is going to occur several times in this passage (this could be a mistake or misspelling on Bob’s part). To be ready for this verbal adjective one must have completed at least part of his ECS, and especially the fourth floor where you have capacity for love, category #1 directed toward God. Once you have this capacity you begin to appreciate the fact that the members of the Trinity are worthy of praise and glorification and that the capacity for this comes from what the Father has provided by way of spiritual food. Food is converted into energy in the human body; spiritual food is converted into energy of the soul, the ability to truly appreciate who and what God is. When you realize that people can appreciate who and what God is, this in itself is almost miraculous inasmuch as God is invisible, God is a great distance away as far as the residence of heaven is concerned, God cannot be understood where spiritual death is concerned and we were born spiritually dead (therefore no fellowship, no relationship, no ability to comprehend God). Therefore it is a miracle of grace that we in our souls as believer priests have as the highest function of our priesthood eulogêtos (εὐλογητός) [pronounced yoo-log-ay-TOSS], the ability to appreciate God. Eû (ε) [pronounced yoo] is a part of euthus (εὐθύς) [pronounced yoo-THOOS] which is used for straight speaking, it means straight to God, worthy of praise and glorification. You cannot glorify God or praise God or appreciate God or have capacity to love God apart from Bible doctrine.

You will have friends who will try to get you away from Bible doctrine and to get out there and hustle for God. But God wants the saved soul to be filled with doctrine, which gives us the capacity to love God.

You body has ears, which feed directly into your soul.

“the God” — ho (ὁ) [pronounced hoh] theos (θεός) [pronounced theh-OSS]. This time we have the definite article to indicate the identity of the noun, “God.”

“and Father” — we have patêr (πατήρ) [pronounced pat-AYR] again, mentioned this time to indicate once again the first person of the Trinity who is invisible and unknowable apart from Bible doctrine, and the key to knowing Him is the Lord Jesus Christ. With this we have the ascensive use of kai, it indicates apposition but closer than apposition. It means talking about the same person. God and Father aren’t really apposition, they are the same person. We have no definite article with patêr (πατήρ) [pronounced pat-AYR] to call attention to the quality He is, the Father is the absolute authority. The first person of the Trinity is the author of the divine plan, the ultimate source of grace, and not only the absolute authority but the basis of order and freedom and function within His own plan.

“of our Lord Jesus Christ” — tou kuriou hêmôn (ἡμν) [pronounced hay-MOHN] Iêsou (̓Ιησο) [pronounced ee-ay-SOO] Christou (χριστο) [pronounced krees-TOO]. This phrase presents the focal point of the Father’s plan and at the same time emphasizes that the only celebrity of the Christian life is Jesus Christ. The definite article tou indicates the quality of every one of these words. Every one of these words is a genitive of relationship. Tou is the genitive of the definite article, it gives us the key. Tou kuriou is genitive of relationship and it is a relationship between the Son and the Father. The Son has the same essence as the Father — essence box. “Lord” is deity.

Then we have Iêsou (̓Ιησο) [pronounced ee-ay-SOO] in the genitive, the humanity of Christ. At this point, when we get to the word “Jesus,” we now see something of the uniqueness of Christ. He is coequal with God the Father but He is different from the Father because He is true humanity. The Christos (χριστός) [pronounced krees-TOHSS] indicates that His humanity was sent through the sovereign decision and plan of the Father. The humanity of Christ was sent to the world. So man comes into contact with Jesus Christ, and when he does he learns about the Father; first of all by receiving as his saviour the living Word — phase one, Christ on the cross; then phase two, the written Word — the Bible, the canon of scripture, doctrine — and then he learns about both Christ and the Father and the whole plan. So each one of these is a genitive of relationship. The verbal adjective indicates that God the Father is the author of the plan — operation grace. He is the object of all worship, praise, glorification, homage, adoration, and thanksgiving. Jesus Christ is both the revelation of the Godhead and the first phase of the plan of God. As the Father of Jesus Christ the first person of the Trinity sent the Son as the grace entrance into the Father’s plan. Christ said, “I am the door.” The work of the Son on the cross not only excludes but it precludes all human works for salvation. Since Christ is the only saviour the Lord is the entrance into the Father’s plan, there is no other way.

“who” is not found in the original manuscript. Instead there is a pre-positive definite article ho (ὁ) [pronounced hoh], usually translated “the one.” It always refers to the person in context about whom everything is being said: “the one” — God the Father.

“hath blessed” — literally, “the one having blessed.” This is the aorist active participle from eulogeô (εὐλογέω) [pronounced you-lohg-EH-oh]. God the Father is the subject of the participle. A pre-positive definite article has a participle, it means this article is the subject of the participle. This is a gnomic aorist tense, one in which a doctrine is regarded as an absolute. It is to be taught as an absolute thing. This verb really means to provide benefits. It is an absolute in this universe of relatives that the God provides the benefits. There is a very close relationship between the gnomic aorist and the culminative aorist. Sometimes they cannot be distinguished. There is a sense in which this is culminative in that all blessing must ultimately come from God. This means any blessing that comes from sin does not come from God and therefore it means that it is not blessing in the absolute sense, in the grace sense. So it is important to understand the gnomic aorist. This is an absolute. The active voice: God the Father produces the action, He provides the benefits, does all the work, there is no place for human ability, human talent, human personality, human ingenuity. This is a participle. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb. The main verb: “he hath chosen us,” found in verse 4. First of all He provided benefits and then He chose us. Notice what comes first. The blessing comes before the person. Before He chose us He provided the blessing first because the blessing was based upon His perfect essence.

We think that we are elected and then God provides the blessing after. But God provided the blessing before He elected us (at least, logically).

“us” — the accusative plural hêmas (ἡμς) [pronounced hay-MASS] of the personal pronoun egó (ἐγώ) [pronounced ehg-OH] refers to believers of the Church Age. Therefore the phrase reads. “the one having provided us benefits.”

1972 Ephesians                                                                                             Lesson #3

3 08/24/1972 Ephesians 1:3b Doctrine of positional truth

The better that we understand God the Father, the more oriented we will be to life. God the Father is the absolute authority; and with His authority come absolute provision of God. Each Member of the Trinity existed in eternity past and has designed all things. God provided for us before we existed. The sooner that we recognize this principle...

God is so smart that He set up the provision of blessing first and we came second.

In Christian circles, most people are not interested in God the Father. But He is worthy of all praise and glorification.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One having blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms,...

God is a gentleman and He recognizes our free will. He has the perfect plan for each one of us and the perfect provision for us.

Bob reviews some principles from the grammar of this verse, going to the second sentence. None of us know anything about God the Father and this is revealed to us through Bible doctrine.

At salvation, God the Son is real to us and, many times, God the Holy Spirit is real to us. But we do not know God the Father. When we leave the salutation and begin to study this letter, we can tell that Paul has come to the point of supergrace.

The Apostle Paul has found, through the longest sentence in literature, true appreciation for God the Father. He sparks the whole plan. He is worthy of praise and glorification. The Father is the head of the family; He is the Author of the plan. He has the absolute authority and Bible doctrine is absolute truth as it comes from Him.

God the Father provided benefits before He elected us. The main verb is, he has elected us, and the aorist participle is provided benefits. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb.

It is about time that you fell in love with God the Father; that your soul might respond to what God the Father did for you in eternity past. Before God elected us, He provided us benefits.

It is simple grace that gives us salvation. For by grace are you saved. This grace is simple; and now, God gives us greater grace or more grace. God the Father knew that the greatest thing that could happen for us is Jesus Christ. He is the first benefit of the plural benefits. At the point of the cross, Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Most people have an angle. Those who want the supergrace life are excluded.

God provided man everything that he needed by day 6. How long was this life? No idea. Maybe a Millennium. The fall of God did not take God by surprise. God keeps on being God; immutability. God found a way to bless sinful man just as He found a way to bless innocent man.

This blessing becomes a reality to us by learning Bible doctrine.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One having blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms,...

Spiritual blessing is the stabilizer.

Eulogeô (εὐλογέω) [pronounced you-lohg-EH-oh]: God provides benefits for you on the basis of who and what He is and who and what He was in eternity past, and He is the same today as He ever was, there never was a time when He was different. This blessing only becomes a reality to us by inculcation, cognisance, GAPing it daily.

“with all spiritual blessings” — materialistic things and things that produce happiness in life are secondary to spiritual blessings. There must be a stabilizer for what we have in life or what we do not have and spiritual blessing is the stabilizer. We have the preposition en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the instrumental of pás (πάς) [pronounced pahs] [all] plus eulogia (εὐλογία) [pronounced yoo-log-EE-ah] [blessing, benevolence] plus pneumatikos (πνευματικός) [pronounced nyoo-mat-EEK-oss] [indicates a category of blessing].

This is a long prepositional phrase. It should be translated “by means of every spiritual benefit.” The provision of grace covers many facets of life, but since God is a spirit benefits which come from God must be spiritual. God is a spirit, God is perfect, what He gives you is spiritual. It might be a right man or a right woman who is flesh and blood but the fact that you have right man or right woman is a spiritual blessing because of the source. So pneumatikos (πνευματικός) [pronounced nyoo-mat-EEK-oss] is not used here in the sense of anything that is respectable or religious or legalistic. It refers to the very character of God, not only His essence. His character is spiritual. Anything that comes from God is pneumatikos (πνευματικός) [pronounced nyoo-mat-EEK-oss]. Pneumatikos (πνευματικός) [pronounced nyoo-mat-EEK-oss] is used for spiritual gifts. God the Holy Spirit sovereignly bestows the gifts. So a materialistic thing can be spiritual or not spiritual, it all depends on the source. If the source is God then it is spiritual.

“in heavenly places” — spiritual benefits include Bible doctrine. Your salvation is a spiritual benefit. But so is everything that you have which is materialistic that is from God. This is en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative plural of epouranios (ἐπουράνιος) [pronounced ep-oo-RAN-ee-oss] which is “upon the heavens.” This is best translated “in the heavenlies,” that is the place where God dwells. This anticipates the next preposition phrase which describes positional truth. In effect, “in the heavenlies” is going to relate all blessings that you have to your position in Christ. Your position in Christ, then, is the source of all your blessings and it is the same concept — pneumatikos (πνευματικός) [pronounced nyoo-mat-EEK-oss]. When God provides a woman, money, a house, a car, or whatever, that is spiritual. The benefit is from God therefore it is spiritual. That doesn’t describe the essence of the benefit, that describes the essence of the giver. Spiritual describes the essence of the giver. Pneumatikos (πνευματικός) [pronounced nyoo-mat-EEK-oss] combines the essence of God, the character of God into one principle. You can’t see God the Father. He is real, He is spiritual, therefore anything that comes from Him is a spiritual gift. This does not means that the gifts are not material.

The preposition en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative plural of epouranios (ἐπουράνιος) [pronounced ep-oo-RAN-ee-oss] occurs five times in Ephesians. It is generally translated “in heavenly places” and that is not bad, but we can shorten it up to “in the heavenlies.”

“in Christ” — en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative of Christos (χριστός) [pronounced krees-TOHSS] for positional truth. There is no definite article here. The absence of the definite article emphasizes the quality. The quality is perfect, Christ. The quality is resurrected, ascended, and seated Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father. His humanity is in the place of highest glorification. His deity always possesses glorification. As the God-Man seated at the right hand of the Father in hypostatic union He is absolutely unique.

Ephesians 1:3 Worthy of praise and glorification the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one having provided us benefits by every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.

1972 Ephesians                                                                                             Lesson #4

4 08/27/1972 Ephesians 1:4 Doctrine of election

Bob reads his correct translation of Ephesians 1.

Bob reviews v. 3, including some of the Greek and grammar.

Ephesians 1:4 ...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world for us to be holy and blameless before Him, in love... (BLB)

Verse 4 — “According as” is the compound verb kathôs (καθώς) [pronounced kahth-OCE], made up of the preposition katá (κατά) [pronounced kaw-TAW] = norm or standard; the adverb hôs (ὡς) [pronounced hohç] = as, just as, like. When put together it is used here is a causal sense, especially as a conjunction beginning a sentence. God is the cause of election. He is the cause of His own plan. He is perfect, therefore His plan is perfect. The fact that He has caused a plan means that there is in this world one perfect plan, the origin is God the Father. This is the meaning of the compound adverb at this stage. The planner came before the plan. We translate it, “Even as.”

“he that chosen us” — the aorist middle indicative of the verb eklegomai (ἐκλέγομαι) [pronounced ek-LEHG-om-ahee]. The aorist tense is a gnomic aorist, it is designed to state something which is axiomatic, something which is completely and totally absolute without equivocation. It is very similar to the culminative aorist in which the event is reviewed in its entirety but regarded from the viewpoint of existing results. Here we have an absolute state. The Father’s perfection is revealed in the fact that he has chosen us, we have not chosen Him. Not only has He chosen us but He has chosen us within a sphere, within a principle: the principle of grace so that at no time in all of our existence will anything ever depend on us and everything will depend on Him. The middle voice: the subject, God the Father, acts toward participating in the outcome. While the active voice stresses the action the middle voice stresses the agent. God the Father is the agent. Hence, the middle voice relates the action more intimately to the subject. So in the middle voice this verb is very intimately united to the subject as the source. God the Father is the source of election. This is also known in Greek syntax as a direct middle in which the verb carries a reflexive connotation. This relates the action of the verb to the subject. The reflexive middle here emphasizes the sovereignty, the perfection of God — His ability, His sovereignty, everything. God has all ability to provide for us. We are related to the God of the universe, the first person of the Trinity, who has no limitation in His ability in any way. The indicative mood is the reality of God the Father having selected or elected us for Himself — “Even as he has elected [chosen] us for himself.”

“us” refers to all believers; “in him” is en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative of the pronoun autos (αὐτός) [pronounced ow-TOSS], a basic reflexive pronoun. It refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. The pronoun emphasizes a subject already known to the readers. It is also intensive, isolating the person of Jesus Christ from everything else and indicating that God the Father intends that for us as believers there is only one celebrity in the universe, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father has sent us and has given us the only celebrity. Principle: In Christianity there can be many heroes but only one celebrity, the God-Man, the unique person of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ. The prepositional phrase here refers to positional truth. En (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative refers to being in union with the Lord Jesus Christ.

“before the foundation of the world’ — before πρὸ [the] foundation καταβολς of [the] world κόσμου. Pro plus the genitive indicates before something began. Kosmou indicates the order of things that came from God in this world. So literally, “before the beginning of the world.” kósmos (κόσμος) [pronounced KOSS-moss] means order. It originally has to do with God creating this world. Kósmos (κόσμος) [pronounced KOSS-moss] today is used for the devil’s kingdom.

The word “chosen” is the key to the doctrine of election.

“that” is not found in the original manuscript. However, it is bona fide as a word in the translation because the infinitive often denotes purpose. “That” is a device in the English to connote purpose, so it is used here to translate the infinitive with the accusative of general reference.

“we should be” — “we” is the accusative plural of the personal pronoun egó (ἐγώ) [pronounced ehg-OH], and in the plural it should be translated “we,” referring to all believers under the concept “he has chosen us.” Notice that “we” is the subject of the verb “should be.” But “we” is in the accusative and it is called the accusative of general reference, whereby when you want to emphasize something and have run out of superlatives you go to a grammatical change. In the sense of etymology we have now run out of superlatives, therefore we go to a device in the Greek. Take an accusative (in this case an accusative plural. It is always the object of the verb) and turn it into a subject. When you turn it into a subject you can’t use an ordinary verb, you have to use an infinitive. So the infinitive should be the present active infinitive of eimi (εἰμί) [pronounced eye-ME], the absolute status quo verb. We have present tense, linear aktionsart. The active voice: all believers. The accusative plural of egó (ἐγώ) [pronounced ehg-OH], the subject. The infinitive: this is God’s purpose. Therefore it should be translated, “that we keep on being.” Then we have another accusative, the object of the verb, but the problem is that the verb is eimi (εἰμί) [pronounced eye-ME] which doesn’t take the accusative case. So once more we have a very strange construction, an accusative of general reference followed by an accusative. This in itself is a very strong way in the Greek of underlining something.

“saints” — hagios (ἅγιος) [pronounced HA-gee-oss]. The principle of the phrase, “that we keep on being saints” is to indicate that the purpose of grace is to make each believer of the Church Age exactly like the celebrity, like Christ. The Father is going to accomplish this in three stages and all three stages come under the word hagios (ἅγιος) [pronounced HA-gee-oss].

The word “saints” has to do with positional sanctification, i.e. every believer in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saints because Christ was set apart to God the Father in eternity past. Christ was set apart in time because of His uniqueness. The uniqueness of Christ leads to the fact that He is sanctified or set apart. Christ is the original saint, we are in union with Christ, we share His set-apartness. Positionally we are set apart, experientially: supergrace life, and ultimately in resurrection body we will have a body exactly like that of the Son of God.

“and without blame” — the ascensive use of kai which sets it up in apposition, and it should be “even unblemished or blameless.” Amômos (ἄμωμος) [pronounced AM-oh-moss] is an adjective and it means “blameless” or “unblemished.” It connotes the absence of defects. This is accomplished at present through union with Christ. In phase three the resurrection body is exactly like Him. The fact that we are saints now and the fact that we were saints at salvation means that we will always be saints. Because the believer is in union with Christ he is blameless — Romans 8:1. Because he is going to have a resurrection body exactly like Christ, he is blameless. What he is experientially is beside the point. The point is he is in the plan of God and it doesn’t depend on the believer.

Sainthood is incorrectly associated with something that we do, but sainthood is a status which is established by God (that status being in Christ). Once a saint, always a saint; and we cannot change that.

“before him” is an adverb, katenôpion (κατενώπιον) [pronounced kat-en-OH-pee-on], which has a dual connotation. It means first of all “in the sight of.” This refers to phase two sanctification which as to do with supergrace life. It also means “in the presence of” which refers to phase three sanctification based on having a resurrection body. We are in union with Christ, therefore we are in the sight of God right now. We are also going to be in the presence of God in a resurrection body. We translate this “blameless in the presence of him.” This includes the fact that we are in His sight now, we will be in His presence in the future.

“before him [of him]” is a genitive singular of autos (αὐτός) [pronounced ow-TOSS] referring to God the Father. This is a genitive of reference.

“in love” goes with the next verse.

Ephesians 1:4 ...even as He has chosen us for Himself in Him [Christ] before the beginning of the world, that we keep on being saints and blameless in the presence of Him...

1972 Ephesians                                                                                             Lesson #5

5 09/03/1972 Ephesians 1:5 Doctrines of predestination, adoption

Ephesians 1:5 ...[in love], having predestined us for divine adoption as sons to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,... (BLB)

Verse 5 — the words “in love” at the end of verse 4 in the KJV are actually the beginning of this verse. So the verses actually starts, “In love having predestinated.” “In love” is the preposition en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative of agápē (ἀγάπη) [pronounced ag-AH-pay]. Agápē (ἀγάπη) [pronounced ag-AH-pay] is a mental love, a love which has no emotional connotation. It is the absence of mental attitude sins and is the concept and the dynamics of love from the standpoint of thinking. Here it refers to the love of God the Father as the motivator in His plan. Love must not be compromised and therefore we have the concept of propitiation whereby God enters into relationship with us.

“having predestinated” is the aorist active participle of the compound verb proorizô (προορίζω) [pronounced proh-ohr-IHD-zoh] which means to predesign or to predetermine.

This is the first time that Bob gave this doctrine. He repeats all of these points.

God is relaxed toward all of His creatures. He is not jealous, vindictive, implacable etc.

“having predestinated” is the aorist active participle of the compound verb proorizô (προορίζω) [pronounced proh-ohr-IHD-zoh] which means to predesign or to predetermine. Aorist comes from the Greek word aoristos (αοριστος) which means unlimited. Aorist means that we have an indefinite tense without essential temporal significance. The aorist does not signify completeness but an action as already attained. It states the fact of the action, the event, without regard to its duration. The aorist states a past action without reference to its duration simply as a thing attained. The aorist, then, expresses a simple occurrence of the action in past time, although some of them anticipate the future and some are related to the present. We have a constative aorist here which contemplates the action in its entirety. In other words, it takes everything designed in the divine decrees in eternity past and gathers it up into one whole or one entirety. When the aorist participle here says “having predesigned” it means that in eternity past everything that would be needed for you personally was provided then — salvation and everything after it in phase two. So the constative aorist here takes into view everything that you would ever need. God will never be taken by surprise at any disaster in the believer’s life and in eternity past He had already made provision in grace. We also have the active voice of this participle: God the Father did the work. In the active voice the subject produces the action and God the Father is the subject producing the action. This is also an aorist participle. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb, the main verb: “he has chosen us for himself.” He also did that in eternity past, and this is to show logical progression in eternity past. In eternity past, after He had provided everything the believer needed, He chose him.

“us” is the accusative plural from egó (ἐγώ) [pronounced ehg-OH] — “In love having predesigned us.”

“unto the adoption” — the preposition eis (εἰς) [pronounced ICE] plus the accusative of huiothesía (υἱοθεσία) [pronounced hwee-oth-es-EE-ah] [huios (υἱός, ο, ὁ) [pronounced hwee-OSS] = adult son; thesis (θέσις) [pronounced THEH-sihs] = placing]. This is a Roman custom, the recognition of maturity. Adoption means recognition of maturity, it does not mean to adopt someone outside the family. The words “of children” are not found in the original. It should read, “In love having predesigned us with the result of the appointment of adult sons.” eis (εἰς) [pronounced ICE], the preposition, is used in the concept of result.

“by Jesus Christ” — dia plus the genitive which is “through Jesus Christ.” Union with Christ makes the adoption reality.

“to himself” is eis (εἰς) [pronounced ICE] plus autos (αὐτός) [pronounced ow-TOSS] and it means that the direction of the baptism of the Spirit, union with Christ and adoption, is toward God Himself.

“according to the good pleasure” — katá (κατά) [pronounced kaw-TAW] plus the accusative of eudokia (εὐδοκία) [pronounced you-dohk-EE-ah] which means benevolent purpose.

“of his will” — we have to be careful here because the word is thelêma (θέλημα) [pronounced THEHL-ay-mah] and it is in the ablative. It means “from the source of his will.” This is what is called the objective use of thelêma (θέλημα) [pronounced THEHL-ay-mah] which means what is willed, what one wishes to bring about by his own action. Since God by His own action has undertaken to do what He has willed this refers to His plan and His purpose. It is a benevolent purpose of God which He has undertaken to adopt every believer at the point of salvation as an adult son. This is a benevolent purpose compatible with grace.

Ephesians 1:5 In love having predesigned us with the result of the appointment of adult sons for Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the benevolent purpose from His will.

Principle: Positional truth was designed to make every believer at salvation an adult son, whether he is carnal or spiritual, whether he is in reversionism or supergrace. Therefore positional truth was predesigned to give every believer eternal security regardless of his experiential status in phase two.

After salvation, God pursues us with grace.

1972 Ephesians                                                                                             Lesson #6

6 09/10/1972 Ephesians 1:6–7a Doctrine of grace

Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One, (BLB)

Verse 6 — “To the praise” is a prepositional praise, eis (εἰς) [pronounced ICE] plus the accusative singular from the compound noun épainos (ἔπαινος) [pronounced EHP-ahee-noss] [einos = praise (I found no such results in a Google search); épainos (ἔπαινος) [pronounced EHP-ahee-noss] = over-praise] which can be translated applause, recognition, or approval. Literally then, “resulting in recognition.” The preposition eis (εἰς) [pronounced ICE] plus the accusative here indicates a result. This is the believer’s response to the plan of God. You cannot begin to appreciate who and what God is, or His plan, until you recognize its ultimate parts. The fact of over-praise recognition indicates the response of a believer with an ECS and this is really supergrace recognition. Ephesians 1:6, like James 4:6, is not dealing with grace in the ordinary sense but it is referring to the function of the supergrace life. So this is tantamount to occupation with Christ as the fourth floor of the ECS plus the capacity for loving Jesus Christ under the supergrace life. A more detailed response is presented in Psalm 32, which is a good parallel passage.

“of the glory” — the genitive singular doxa (δόξα) [pronounced DOHX-ah] is without the definite article. This word refers to the quality of God. Glory is used here in that sense because of the absence of the definite article, calling attention to the quality of the noun. The specific part of God which is being described is His plan so we have “the glory of …

“his grace” — the ablative singular of charis (χάρις) [pronounced KHAHR-iç] which is source here, “glory from the source of his grace.”

“wherein” — an ablative from the relative pronoun hês (ς) [pronounced hayç] and should be translated “from which [grace].” Grace is the antecedent of the relative pronoun. In other words, it is the grace of God which has made us “accepted in the beloved.”

“he hath made us accepted” is an aorist active indicative of charitoô (χαριτόω) [pronounced khar-ee-TOW-oh] which does not mean to be accepted. Charis (χάρις) [pronounced KHAHR-iç] means grace, and charitoô (χαριτόω) [pronounced khar-ee-TOW-oh] here means to pursue with grace or to grace out — “he has pursued us with grace.” The aorist tense is a dramatic aorist stating a present reality with the certitude of a past event. The past event is the doctrine of divine decrees or God’s decision in eternity past to treat mankind in grace. Therefore, since man is hard to catch this verb recognizes man as a believer being pursued by grace. The dramatic aorist is often used for a status which has just been realized, and the whole objective of Ephesians 1:6 is to become aware of with the result that you enter into the supergrace life. Paul in reversion recovery has come to realize the fact that ever since the moment he was saved he has been pursued by grace. The active voice produces the action of the verb. In this case God the Father is the subject and He does the pursuing. It is the plan of God the Father that pursues us from the point of salvation to the point that we depart from this earth. The indicative mood is the reality of the supergrace believer being pursued by God’s grace.

“us” is the accusative plural of the personal pronoun egó (ἐγώ) [pronounced ehg-OH]. This personal pronoun means that any believer who is positive toward doctrine is under this principle. It is a question of whether you are going to be disciplined by grace or pursued by grace. If you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ are negative toward doctrine it is inevitable that you will be disciplined by grace. But if you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ are positive toward doctrine it is also inevitable that you will be pursued by grace.

“in the beloved” — the perfect passive participle of agapaô (ἀγαπάω) [pronounced ahg–ahp–AH–oh]. Agapaô (ἀγαπάω) [pronounced ahg–ahp–AH–oh] is used for mental attitude love. In the case of God it is right from His essence. The perfect tense is the permanent fact that God loves us. He loves us because He first of all loved His Son. The perfect tense is used to first of all indicate there was a permanent love always between the Father and the Son. We are “in” — en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative form of the perfect passive participle which refers to the fact that since we are in union with the one who has always been loved we now share being the object of that permanent love. God the Father loves God the Son with a permanent love; God the Father loves every believer with a permanent love. The passive voice indicates that we receive this love without earning it or deserving it or working for it. You do not work for the love of God, it is maximum at the point of salvation, and God’s love for you from the point of salvation on never is improved. Every believer is in union with the one having been loved. Therefore we are the objects of maximum love from the start and it never changes. Since the believer is in union with Christ the Father can only love us with the same capacity of love that He has for the Son. Consequently we are “the ones having been loved.” This is taught in Colossians 3:12 1Timothy 6:2 Hebrews 6:9 2Peter 3:1 1John 3:2.

Ephesians 1:6 Resulting in the recognition of glory from the source of His grace, from which He has pursued us with grace in the one having been loved.

Bob has no idea why some people are coming to Berachah. If you are not here for doctrine, you should not be here. And your husband, lady, is not going to have anything rub off on him. Bob is thinking of knocking out the early morning service.

Notice a progression of grace in our context. In Ephesians 1:6 we have “his grace.” In verse 7, “the ruches of his grace.” In 2:7, “the exceeding riches of his grace.” There is a principle involved here. Once grace starts pursuing you you go from grace to the riches of His grace to the exceeding riches of His grace.

The ultimate on earth is when God’s grace is pursuing us. His grace (v. 6), the riches of His grace (v. 7), the exceeding riches of His grace (2:7); we go from His grace, to the riches of His grace, to the exceeding riches of His grace.

We have reached a peak at this point. There must be harmony between the holiness of God and the love of God. God’s justice cannot be compromised in the plan of God.

Ephesians 1:7 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (BLB)

Verse 7 — the function of the Lord Jesus Christ in harmonising God’s love with God’s holiness. “In whom” — the preposition en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς) [pronounced hohç]. The relative pronoun must always have an antecedent. Here it is the Lord Jesus Christ — beloved is “the one having been loved.”

“we have” — present active indicative of echô (ἔχω) [pronounced EHKH-oh which means to have and to hold. The present tense is linear aktionsart which means unchanged. We will always have, hold, redemption through His blood. Here is the basis by which God can pursue us with grace after salvation because His righteousness and justice are not compromised by His love. Propitiation, redemption, reconciliation, imputation, justification all combine so that God is able to bless us to the maximum in time without compromising His divine character. We are pursued by grace at the point of entering the supergrace life. Long before we were pursued by grace we had the basis for it, we had it at the moment of our salvation.

“redemption” — the accusative singular from apolutrôsis (ἀπολύτρωσις) [pronounced ap-ol-OO-troh-sis], the strongest word for being purchased from slavery. It means a deliverance from slavery by payment. Apolutrôsis (ἀπολύτρωσις) [pronounced ap-ol-OO-troh-sis] means the slave was purchased and released as a free person. Purchasing a slave with the intention of releasing that slave into freedom.

A person taken right out of the stone age and put into a new society; and if he is set free, what does he do? He has no clue. It is a brand new world; civilization that he could not imagine. In order to adjust, he must learn what is happening and what he can do in life.

The slave is free but he has no capacity for freedom. He has to learn a great many things before he can begin to appreciate, to enjoy, or to utilize his freedom. He has to learn things, he has to know things. You and I at the point of salvation are freed from the slave market of sin but just because we are born again, just because we are children of God, just because we have eternal life, it doesn’t mean that we have any capacity for the freedom which God has provided through redemption, through grace. Therefore it takes the learning of Bible doctrine to have capacity for freedom and one of the first characteristics of the supergrace life is capacity for freedom. You have to learn doctrine after you are saved, that is the whole objective. Capacity for freedom is in the soul, not in the body.

Freedom is nothing without capacity for freedom. But we are not free to do whatever we want to do. Freedom requires authority. Bob starts talking about a local school where there is great authority from the football coaches. They are currently being sued for being too rough on their son. “Take your namby pamby oaf of a large boy out of the program.” To defy authority by a lawsuit... We’ve gone a long ways down the drain; and we are holding ground only here at v. 7.

1972 Ephesians                                                                                             Lesson #7

7 09/17/1972 Ephesians 1:7b–8; Lev. 17:10–14 Doctrine of the blood (extensive explanation); doctrine of redemption

Verses 7-12, the work of the Son related to the plan of the Father.

All Members of the Trinity have the exact same essence: Justice. Love. Veracity. Omniscience. Omnipotence. Omnipresence. Immutability. Righteousness. Eternal Life and Sovereignty. They are One in essence and three in personality.

These characteristics can not be simply put aside or ignored. Not one characteristic of God can be violated or compromised.

Verse 7 — we enter into the function of the Son as it relates to the plan of the Father. Since God demands that justice and righteousness [His own] must be harmonized with His love the next section, verses 7-12, deal with the work of the Son. This is the only way that God can be consistent with His own essence. Love and eternal life can come to man only because of the cross.

Verse 7 begins with the preposition en (ἐν) [pronounced en] plus the locative of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς) [pronounced hohç]. The antecedent for the relative pronoun is the Lord Jesus Christ who is said to be in the English “beloved,” but it is a perfect passive participle, “the one having been loved.” “In whom [Christ].”

“we have” — present active indicative of the verb echô (ἔχω) [pronounced EHKH-oh which means to have and to hold; “redemption” — here is the principle, the blood will give us the mechanics. The doctrine of redemption is used to illustrate the principle at this point. Under the doctrine of redemption we have the noun in the accusative singular, the object of the verb, apolutrôsis (ἀπολύτρωσις) [pronounced ap-ol-OO-troh-sis] which is the strongest of all Greek words for this. Lutrôsis (λύτρωσις) [pronounced LOO-troh-sis] means to purchase; apó (ἀπό) [pronounced aw-PO] means from an ultimate source. When put together it means to purchase a slave, not to be used as a slave but to purchase a slave and to give him his freedom. So it connotes not only freedom from the slave market of sin but it also indicates that the person is no longer a slave. He is delivered from shackles and bondage and is considered a free man. “In whom we have been purchased to freedom.”

“through his blood” — dia plus the genitive of haima (αἵμα) [pronounced HI-mah]. The issue is found in the blood. Never in human history has one principle, one doctrine, been so abused in the scripture. The blood of Jesus Christ is mentioned quite frequently in the New Testament and its counterpart, the representation of it, the blood of animal sacrifices in the Old Testament. The blood of Christ has entered into the realm of mysticism. The claim is that the blood of Christ was gathered up into some kind of a bowl and carried up into heave prior to the resurrection and ascension. These things lead to mystacism and has bled into Protestant circles to some degree. The word blood is often shouted out when mentioning it. The Methodist church apparently went through their hymnal and removed any reference to blood.

With regard to the doctrine of the blood there are several things that must be kept in mind. First of all, Jesus Christ did not bleed to death. Nor does His physical death have anything to do with salvation, except to indicate the fact that it was finished. Salvation was completed while Christ was alive on the cross.

The sequence of events on the cross. It was 9 am when Jesus was placed on the cross. His hands and feet were nailed to the wooden cross. For the first three hours, there was some dialogue; He said things like “I thirst” and things happened around Him, like gambling for His clothes. At noon, darkness covered that hill. Then all the sins of the world were poured out on Jesus Christ. He took our place; He became our substitute. The sins of the world were poured out on Christ and at that time He died spiritually.

“The day you eat thereof, you will die,” Adam was warned. Adam lived another 900+ years after eating the fruit. He was spiritually dead. He had to hide from Jesus Christ when He came into the garden.

On the cross when this took place, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus died spiritually; and He was forsaken by God the Father and the Holy Spirit. After three hours, Jesus said, “Finished.” Then He said, “Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit,” and then He died physically. Jesus died twice on the cross that we might be born twice. The blood depicts the spiritual death of Christ. The physical death of Christ has to do with the completion of His work and with resurrection.