Chapter 1

 

            The literal translation of the first six verses of this chapter:

 

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

            Verse 2 — Grace to you and peace, from the ultimate source of God our Father, and Lord Jesus Christ.

            Verse 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:

            Verse 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:

            Verse 5 — In love having pre designed us with the result of the appointment of adult sons for himself through Jesus Christ, according to the benevolent purpose from his will,

            Verse 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 super-grace believer with grace. The subject of the chapter is the prothesis of God — God’s pre designed plan.

            The Pauline epistles fall into four general categories: a) The second missionary journey; b) The third missionary journey; c) The first Roman imprisonment; d) After the first Roman imprisonment. During the second missionary journey Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians from Corinth in 52 AD. He wrote 2 Thessalonians from Corinth in 53 AD. So it was about 52 AD that Paul began writing. Then during the third missionary journey he wrote four epistles: Galatians, written from Ephesus in 55 AD; 1 Corinthians, written from Ephesus in 55 AD; 2 Corinthians, written from Philippi in 57 AD; Romans, written from Corinth just before Paul left for Jerusalem in 58 AD. From 58 AD we have a silence from Paul for four years. He went into reversionism by going to Jerusalem. When Paul wrote Romans he should have carried the epistle himself to Rome, he should have gone to Rome from Corinth. He got out of the geographical will of God by going to Jerusalem. After his recovery he wrote possibly the four most important things he ever wrote: Ephesians from Rome in 62 AD, Philippians from Rome in 63 AD, Colossians from Rome in 62 AD, Philemon from Rome in 62 AD. Then we have Paul’s release, a fourth missionary journey and a second imprisonment. During the fourth missionary journey he wrote 1 Timothy from Macedonia in 65 AD; Titus from Macedonia in 66 AD; 2 Timothy from Rome in 67 AD. Paul began writing in 52 AD and he died in 67 AD.

            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 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 super-grace life.

            Again, the first chapter is the prothesis of God or the predetermined plan of God. The last chapter relates to the angelic conflict. The word prothesis is taken from the Greek. Qhsij is taken from tiqhmi 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.

 

            The outline of chapter one

            The salutation of the epistle:  Verses 1 & 2.

            The long sentence, or the relationship of the Trinity to the prothesis: Verses 3-14.                

            The first apostolic prayer, or the dynamics of prothesis: Verses 15-23.  

            Verse 1 & 2, the salutation of the epistle.

            Verse 1 — “Paul.” Pauloj, 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.

            “apostle” — a)postoloj without the definite article. It does not mean “one sent.” A)postoloj from the fifth century BC to the present time means admiral of the fleet. 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. 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.

            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 emphasised.

 

            The doctrine of apostleship

            1. Apostleship is the highest spiritual gift ever to exist in the church. It is sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit to certain individual — 1 Corinthians 12:11, 28; Ephesians 4:11.

            2. Apostleship was a temporary gift designed to carry the church until the canon of scripture was completed. It had the authority of dictatorship because such and authority did not exist until the completion of the New Testament. Now the absolute dictatorship is the New Testament. The gift carried absolute authority in both written and verbal communication of doctrine.

            3. The time of appointment. The apostles were appointed after the resurrection of Jesus Christ — Ephesians 4:8,11. Hence, they must be distinguished from the apostles to Israel in Matthew 10:2ff.

            4. The extent of the gift. This spiritual gift exercised authority over all the local churches. Once the canon was completed the gift was removed. Today all local churches are autonomous with authority vested in the canon and the local pastor-teacher.

            5. The qualification of apostles. Apostles had to be eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ. This qualified the eleven and Paul was qualified on the Damascus road — Acts 1:22; 1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8,9.

            6. The authority of the apostles was established by the possession of a certain temporary gift which went with it. Every apostle also had the gift of miracles, healing, and tongues. These were spectacular type gifts which he had to use to establish his authority when he went to certain places. These gifts do not exist today. Acts 5:15; 16:16-18; 28:8,9. Once the apostle’s authority was established in an area he didn’t use these gifts any more and eventually when the apostles’ authority were all established these gifts were removed.

            7. The roster of apostles. We have the eleven minus Judas Iscariot. Matthias was elected but he was not an apostle. Man cannot superimpose his will on God’s will ever. The twelfth apostle is Paul — 1 Corinthians 15:7-10. He is the one whom God appointed to replace Judas Iscariot.

            8. There were others who had delegated authority from apostles and therefore in a sense exercised from apostolic authority when they were sent on apostolic missions. They include Barnabas — Acts 14:14; Galatians 2:9; James, the Lord’s half-brother — 1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 1:19; Apollos — 1 Corinthian 4:6,9; Sylvanus and Timothy — 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:6.

 

            “of Jesus Christ” — as an apostle of Jesus Christ Paul belongs to Him. Xristou I)hsou, two genitives. Paul is talking about his authority and his authority is in Xristou which means “appointed” by God, commissioned by God. “Jesus” [I)hsou] is the name for His humanity but Xristoj 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 qelhma which means will, purpose, design. All three words are pertinent here. Plus the genitive of possession of qeoj. “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 — qeoj. Since God is perfect His will, His design, and His purpose are perfect.

           

            Summary

            1. It was the purpose of God in eternity past to take the worst sinner who ever lived and make him the greatest saint who ever lived — 1 Timothy 1:12-16. This is grace.

            2. In grace everything depends on who and what God is, what is His plan, His purpose, and His design.

            3. God is perfect, the absence of the definite article emphasises the quality of God [perfection].

            4. Since God is perfect His plan, His purpose, His design is perfect. It is impossible to have an imperfect plan, purpose, and design coming from a perfect God.

            5. In reality Paul was the twelfth apostle appointed by God to replace Judas Iscariot.

            6. The election of Acts 1:15-26 was a farce.

            7. Peter was out of line by suggesting it. Matthias was elected by men but apostles are appointed by God.

 

            “to the saints” — the dative plural from a(gioj. 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 e)imi. 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.

            “to the faithful” — the word for “faithful” is again a dative plural from pistoj. It is correctly translated “faithful.” It is used of God in certain passages such as 1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; Hebrews 10:23; 1 Peter 4:19; 1 John 1:9. So the noun is used for God and whenever it is it indicates His immutability. 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 super-grace 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 e)n plus the locative of I)hsouj, the proper name for the Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity, and Xristoj which has to do with His commission, His appointment.

 

            The doctrine of sanctification

            1. The word “saints” is a(gioj which means two things. Sometimes it means “saints” and sometimes “holy.” The same word is used for both, and adjective and a noun. The noun is “saint,” the adjective is “holy.”

            There are a number of words taken out of the same root:

                        a(giothj which means holiness and refers in many of the passages of the NT to our relationship with God. Our relationship at the point of salvation is holiness because we are in union with the Lord Jesus Christ.

                        a(giosunh means sanctification and has to do with one of the 36 things we receive at the point of salvation — entrance into union with the person of Christ. This is where we are first of all sanctified.

                        a(giasmoj — means holiness, and there is a verb, a(giazw, which means to set apart, to sanctify, and so on.

            2. Basically all words for sanctification connote some form of separation into, therefore a relationship with.

            3. The agency of sanctification. a) The Son of God, Jesus Christ — Hebrews 10:10, 14. ; b) The Holy Spirit — Romans 15:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; c) The Word of God — John 17:17; Ephesians 5:26.

            4. Phase one of sanctification: positional truth. God’s plan is divided into three parts.

            5. Phase two sanctification is the super-grace life. It is the combination of a maximum amount of time logged in the filling of the Spirit, as per 2 Thessalonians 2:13, and the daily function of GAP, John 17:17. By the daily function of GAP over a prolonged period of time the entrance into the super-grace life is accomplished. That is the area of experiential or phase two sanctification.

            6. Phase three sanctification is the believer in his resurrection body. This is often called ultimate sanctification — Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 1:8; Philippians 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 John 3:1,2.

            7. There are some other words that are connect with ultimate sanctification, beside resurrection. Many of these are words which indicate some of the results of resurrection.

                        No old sin nature

                        The removal of all of the human good which the individual has accomplished in his lifetime.

                        In Jude 24, “He has done exceedingly abundantly,” we have two words that indicate ultimate sanctification.

                       

            8. The principle of experiential sanctification in phase two. Experiential sanctification has several objectives.

                        It is to carry the believer during the intensified stage of the angelic conflict. In this intensification every believer is an ambassador for Christ and every believer is a priest, therefore in full time Christian service. This fact from the moment of salvation onward plus the intensification of the angelic conflict demands experiential sanctification and/or the entrance into the super-grace life.

                        Secondly, the objective of experiential sanctification is to establish divine viewpoint in the devil’s world and to provide capacity for every believer to be the rapid beneficiary of grace under all circumstances and situations.

                        Thirdly, the objective of experiential sanctification is to provide from the capacity for love in super-grace maximum occupation with the person of Christ. One of the great objectives of the Christian life is to appreciate who and what Jesus Christ is right now on this earth, not waiting until we get to heaven. This can only be accomplished through Bible doctrine.

                        The fourth objective is to glorify God through the establishment of the ECS. The ECS is reflected glory. We glorify God through the structure in the soul from which all bona fide function and all divine good must emanate.

                        The fifth objective is the production of triple-compound divine good. When it is it falls into the category of gold, silver, precious stones and it mean that we have accomplished something in this life that will glorify God forever. All rewards in the future do not glorify the individual who receives them, they glorify God’s grace who made them possible.

 

            Translation:  “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.

            Verse 2 — the principle behind all of this. “Grace” — the noun xarij is without the definite article. It means everything that God has done for us. Xarij 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.

            “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 emphasise the ones in whose interest the epistle is written. This epistle is written in your personal interest.

            “and peace” — the noun e)irhnh. 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 a)po plus the ablative singular of qeoj referring to God the Father. God the Father has a marvelous plan for all believers.

            “our Father” — the ablative of pathr is added so that we will know the planner is involved here.

            “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 kurioj is used for the deity of Christ.

            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.

            In verses 3-6 we have the function of God the Father in the prothesis.

            Verse 3 begins with a verbal adjective, e)uloghtoj. 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 e)ulogew. This is a verb which looks very similar which means to praise. Since e)uloghtoj is a verbalised adjective it means “worthy of praise and glorification.” The verb means to praise. It is broken down from two words, e)u = good or well; legw = to speak. It is a technical word, one of the high words of praise used only for God, along with another one, e)peinoj which is “super praise.” [e)inoj = praise; e)peinoj = over praise] This word is going to occur several times in this passage. 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 realise 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 e)uloghtoj, the ability to appreciate God. E)u is a part of e)uquj 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.

            “the God” — o( qeoj. This time we have the definite article to indicate the identity of the noun, “God.”

            “and Father” — we have pathr 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 pathr 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 h(mwn I)hsou Xristou. This phrase presents the focal point of the Father’s plan and at the same time emphasises 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 I)hsou 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 Xristoj 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 o(, 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 e)ulogew. 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 that 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.

            “us” — the accusative plural of the personal pronoun e)gw refers to believers of the Church Age. Therefore the phrase reads. “the one having provided us benefits.”

 

            Summary

            1. Since aorist means occurrence the aorist tense can be an occurrence in eternity past. The aorist tense is not related to time, it has no temporal significance and therefore it can be an occurrence in eternity past. God the Father provided benefits for us in eternity past, long before we existed.

            2. In eternity past God the Father provided benefits for us, grace benefits which we could neither earn nor deserve nor gain by our function in time.

            3. While people can be a blessing to us in time only God can be a blessing to us in eternity past before we existed.

            4. Here is the perfection of the divine plan compatible with God’s character. He provided us the benefits and then He provided us.

            5. God is perfect, therefore His plan inevitable must be perfect.

            6. But the plan would not be perfect if anything depended upon man — and nothing does.

            7. Grace blessing preexisted all believers.

            8. The blessing came first, therefore you had nothing to do with the blessing, you were just there; it preexisted you.

            9. Since the blessing of the believer existed before the believer it is impossible for such blessing to be based on human merit or human ability.

            10. Therefore under the aorist active participle of e)ulogew God blesses or provides benefit on the basis of who and what He is, never who and what we are.

            11. Remember the accusative plural of e)gw, the object of the participle. As the object of the participle the inference is obvious. Grace blessing in eternity past was designed for believers in time.

            12. Such blessing becomes a reality through cognisance and inculcation of Bible doctrine.

                       

            The concept

            1. Since the aorist tense represents occurrence not related to time God the Father blessed us or provided benefits for us in eternity past before we were born, before man existed, before angels existed.

            2. In eternity past God the Father provided grace benefits for us which we could not earn or deserve, and these are benefits that belong to us on the basis of who and what He is.

            3. While people can be a blessing to us in time only God can be a blessing to us before time existed in eternity past.

            4. This is the perfection and the superiority of the divine plan which is compatible with the superiority and perfection of His person.

            5. God is perfect, His plan is perfect. God is superior, His plan is ultimately superior. It is the only plan.

            6. If man could do anything to earn or deserve in God’s plan then the plan is no stronger than man. If anything depended upon man (and nothing does) then all grace blessing is gone.

            7. Grace blessing preexisted all grace recipients, all believers. The blessing of grace was provided before the beneficiary of grace.

            8. The blessing came first, therefore you had nothing to do with the blessing, either salvation or anything after salvation.

            9. Since the blessing of the believer existed before the believer it is impossible for such blessing to be based on human merit or human ability.

 

          E)ulogew: 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 stabiliser for what we have in life or what we do not have and spiritual blessing is the stabiliser. We have the preposition e)n plus the instrumental of paj [all] plus e)ulogia [blessing, benevolence] plus pneutatikoj [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 pneumatikoj 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 pneumatikoj. Pneumatikoj 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 e)n plus the locative plural of e)pouranioj 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 — pneumatikoj. 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. Pneumatikoj 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.

            The preposition e)n plus the locative plural of e)pouranioj 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.”

            The five use:

                        a) The sphere and source of divine blessing — Ephesians 1:3.

                        b) The sphere of Christ’s power — Ephesians 1:20.

                        c) The sphere of the Christian life — Ephesians 2:6.

                        d) The sphere of angelic activity — Ephesians 3:10.

                        e) The sphere of spiritual conflict — Ephesians 6:12.

           

            “in Christ” — e)n plus the locative of Xristoj for positional truth. There is no definite article here. The absence of the definite article emphasises 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.

            Translation: “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.”

 

            The doctrine of positional truth [“in Christ”]

            1. The mechanics of positional truth are found in Acts 1:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13 [mechanics]; Ephesians 4:5 [principle]. In other words, at the point of salvation every believer receives 36 things. Five of these are directly accomplished by God the Holy Spirit, one of which is the baptism of the Spirit whereby He takes us an enters us into union with Jesus Christ.

            2. Positional truth belongs to the carnal as well as the spiritual believer, to the super-grace believer and the reversionist — 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30.

            3. Positional truth protects the believer from divine judgment in eternity. Being in union with Christ means that we share His life [eternal], His righteousness [+R, which means it is impossible for us to be judged at the great white throne], His sonship, His heirship, His priesthood, His election, His destiny, His kingship. Romans 8:1.

            4. Positional sanctification qualifies the believer to live with God forever. If you are going to live with God forever there are certain things you must have: eternal life, +R — 1 John 5:11,12; 2 Corinthians 5:21. The believer enters into union with Christ, he shares the life of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, therefore he is qualified to live with God forever, he has the same kind of life that God has, the same kind of righteousness that God has.

            5. Positional truth explains both election and predestination. The principle is that in eternity past Jesus Christ was elected by God the Father, so Christ is elected. In electing Christ He also gave Him a destiny. When we enter into union with Christ we share the election of Christ, we share the destiny of Christ; therefore we are pre designed, foreordained by virtue of union with Christ. Remember that Christianity is a relationship: union with Christ, not a religion.

            6. Positional truth produces a new creature in Christ — 2 Corinthians 5:17.

            7. Positional truth guarantees the eternal security of the believer — Romans 8:38,39.

            8. Positional truth exists in two categories: retroactive and current. When Jesus Christ died on the cross the sins of the old sin nature were poured out on Him and judged, human good was rejected. When we accept Christ as saviour we enter into union with Christ as He is seated at the right hand of the Father. But we also enter into union with Christ as He was upon the cross. We are identified with Christ in His death, we are identified with Christ in His resurrection and ascension. Retroactive positional truth is identification with Christ in His death — Romans 6; Colossians 2:12; 3:3. Current positional truth is identification with Christ in His resurrection.

            9. The implications of current positional truth. They all have to do with the fact that we share what Christ has. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, we share everything that Christ has and is.

                        a) Christ is eternal life — 1 John 5:11,12.

                        b) Christ is absolute righteousness — 2 Corinthians 5:21.

                        c) Christ is elected, we share His election — Ephesians 1:4.

                        d) Christ has a destiny, we share His destiny — Ephesians 1:5.

                        e) Christ is the Son, we are in union with Christ, we share His sonship — 2 Timothy 2:1.

                        f) Christ is the heir, we share His heirship — Romans 8:16,17.

                        g) Christ is sanctified, we share His sanctification — 1 Corinthians 1:2.

                        h) Christ is a King, we share His kingdom — 2 Peter 1:11.

                        i) Christ is a high priest, we share His priesthood —Hebrews 10:10-14.

            10. The characteristics of positional truth.

                        a) It is not an experience, it is neither emotional nor ecstatics.

                        b) It is not progressive, it cannot be improved in time or eternity.

                        c) It is not related to human merit or human good. Grace escalates divine good and excludes human good.

                        d) Positional truth is eternal in nature, it will last forever.

                        e) Positional truth is known only to the Word of God.

                        f) Positional truth is obtained en toto at the moment of salvation. It is accomplished by means of the baptism of the Spirit, one of the 36 things we receive at the point of salvation.

 

            Verse 4 — “According as” is the compound verb kaqwj, made up of the preposition kata = norm or standard; the adverb o(j = 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 e)klegw. 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 emphasises 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 e)n plus the locative of the pronoun a)utoj, a basic reflexive pronoun. It refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. The pronoun emphasises 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. E)n plus the locative refers to being in union with the Lord Jesus Christ.

            “before the foundation of the world’ — pro katabolhj kosmou. 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.” Kosmoj means order. It originally has to do with God creating this world. Kosmoj today is used for the devil’s kingdom.

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

 

            The doctrine of election

            1. All members of the human race are potentially elected to the plan of God by the doctrine of unlimited atonement — 2 Timothy 2:10.

            2. Christ was elected from eternity past — Isaiah 42:1; 1 Peter 2:4,6. If there is going to be a plan the plan must centre on a person, and the person in the plan is the unique person of the universe, Jesus Christ. A plan must involve a key person. Election for the believer means to share the election of Jesus Christ, even as predestination means to share the destiny of Christ. In eternity past Jesus Christ was elected by God the Father. The Father is perfect, He elects the Son. Through the cross where Christ died for us we enter into union with Jesus Christ. Christ is elected; we share His election. Christ is predestined; we share His predestination.

            3. This election of Christ which we now possess occurred in the doctrine of divine decrees and/or the eternal life conference in eternity past — John 15:16; Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2.

            4. Every believer shares the election of Christ through the mechanics of positional sanctification — 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30; Romans 8:28-32; Ephesians 1:4.

            5. Election is the present as well as the future possession of every believer. Therefore election is both temporal as well as the eternal possession of the believer — John 15:16; Colossians 3:12.

            6. This election occurs at the moment of salvation — 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9.

            7. Election is the foundation of the Church. We are members of the body of Christ, the Church, and election is the basis of the foundation of the Church — 1 Thessalonians 1:4. The foundation of the Church universal is the plan — election; the foundation of the church local is Bible doctrine.

            8. Orientation to election comes through doctrine in the right lobe and in the super-grace life.

            9. Regenerate Jews of the previous dispensation, the Age of Israel, also had an election as a part of the plan of God — Romans 11:1-7.

           

             “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 e)gw, 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 emphasise 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 e)imi, the absolute status quo verb. We have present tense, linear aktionsart. The active voice: all believers. The accusative plural of e)gw, 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 e)imi 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” — a(gioj. 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 a(gioj.

            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: super-grace 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.” Anomoj 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.

            “before him” is an adverb, katenwpion, 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 super-grace 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 “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 a)utoj referring to God the Father. This is a genitive of reference.

            “in love” goes with the next verse.

            Translation: “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.”

 

            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 e)n plus the locative of a)gaph. A)gaph 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 proorizw which means to predesign or to predetermine.

 

            The doctrine of predestination

            1. The doctrine of predestination deals with the believer only. There is no such thing as the unbeliever being predestined to hell. The believer has a destiny, the unbeliever goes to hell by his own decision — John 3:18, 36.

            2. The biblical concept of predestination does not conflict with human volition but emphasises it.

            3. The purpose of the doctrine of predestination is to relate the believer permanently to the plan of God through positional truth — Ephesians 1:5.

            4. There are five Greek words used to communicate the biblical doctrine of predestination.

                        a) Proorizw, a verb meaning to predesign — Romans 8:28,29; Ephesians 1:5, 11.

                        b) Protiqhmi, a verb meaning to predetermine (proorizw and protiqhmi are really synonyms with slight changes of meaning) — Romans 3:25; Ephesians 1:9. These words are occasionally used for man.

                        c) Proqesij, a noun meaning a predetermined plan — the subject of Ephesians 1. It is so used in Romans 8:28, “ … according to his proqesij.” Also used in Romans 9:11; Ephesians 1:11; 3:11; 2 Timothy 1:9.

                        d) Proginwskw, a verb meaning to foreordain or preordain when God is the subject — 1 Peter 1:20; Romans 8:29; 11:2.

                        e) Prognwsij, the cognate of proginwskw, which means foreknowledge or a predetermined purpose — Acts 2:23; 1 Peter 1:2.

            5. The crucifixion of Christ is related to the divine decree and predetermined purpose of God — Acts 2:23, “Him [Jesus Christ], being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.” The word “counsel” is the word boulh, “decree.” The word “foreknowledge” is prognwsij but it should be predetermined purpose.” So Jesus Christ was delivered by the predetermined purpose of God the Father. Predestination inevitably involves the person of Jesus Christ, and therefore it is related to the doctrine of divine decrees, the plan of God designed in eternity past. It centres and focuses around the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not conflict with human volition, it anticipates human volition. It anticipates human volition involved in the first sin. It anticipates human volition in believing in Christ. It anticipates human volition in rejecting Christ. But here we have it related to the person of Christ, and prognwsij is mistranslated “foreknowledge” in Acts 2:23. It does not mean foreknowledge, it is stronger than that. It means predetermined purpose. So Jesus Christ was delivered by the thoughtful decree and the predetermined purpose of God the Father.

            6. All believers’ suffering is related to the predetermined plan of God — Romans 8:28 where we have the word proqesij. “ … according to his predetermined plan.” Because of divine provision in eternity past all suffering in phase two works together with grace resulting in divine good.

            7. In grace God in eternity past thought about us and predesigned provision for us. This is what predestination is all about. This includes provision for both time and eternity — Romans 8:29,30. “ … he also predesigned [proorizw].”

            8. God the Father predetermined the grace concept of propitiation — Romans 3:25, “ … through the forbearance of God.” The word forbearance is protqhmi, “the predetermined plan of God.”

            9. The predetermined plan of God takes care of the believer before his birth — Romans 9:11, proqesij.

            10. Both proqesij and proorizw combine in Ephesians 1:11 to define the divine decrees and relate them to predestination: “In whom also we have received a destiny, having been predesigned according to a predetermined plan, from the one [God the Father] putting into operation the all things according to the decree from his will and purpose.”

            11. The born again Jew of the previous dispensation is a part of the preordained plan of God under the unconditional covenants to Israel. Therefore the born again Jew of the Old Testament is not a castaway — Romans 11:2. Therefore there is a definite relationship between predestination and eternal security. Predestination gives the basis for eternal security.

            12. The Father through perfect expression of His thinking predesigned His perfect plan in Christ. Predestination is related to Jesus Christ, therefore predestination inevitably is related to the only celebrity of the Christian life, Jesus Christ — Ephesians 1:9; 1 Peter 1:2, 20; 2 Timothy 1:9.

 

            “having predestinated” is the aorist active participle of the compound verb proorizw which means to predesign or to predetermine. Aorist comes from the Greek word a)oristoj 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 e)gw — “In love having predesigned us.”

 

            What is “us”?

            1. Omniscience anticipates human volition but never coerces it. Human volition is still free to operate on positive or negative signals.

            2. Since God the Father had the good sense to know in eternity past who would believe in Christ, having predesigned us He chose us for Himself in Christ. He knew who would believe in Christ; He knew who would not. So He said the plan would apply to those who believe. Those who do not are outside of the plan.

            3. Predesigned in eternity past are 36 things received by every believer at the point of salvation.

            4. Predesigned in eternity past is everything the believer will ever need for the super-grace life.

            5. However, this passage emphasises the salvation provision of eternity past. Other passages emphasise what God has provided to get the believer into super-grace.

            6. The present Calvinistic doctrine of predestination is based on the Hegelian fallacy that for every thesis there must be an antithesis. However, if the Bible does not state the antithesis it does not exist.

            7. The Bible states the destiny of the believer as heaven. While the believer is predestined to heaven in a resurrection body the unbeliever is not predestined to hell. The unbeliever goes to hell by his own decision, not by the plan of God. The plan of God made provision for everyone to stay out of hell — unlimited atonement.

            8. God’s plan calls for the unbeliever to go to heaven but rejection of Christ from his own free will places him forever in the lake of fire. However, it is not God’s predesigned plan for that unbeliever to go to hell but it is the unbeliever’s own volition.

            9. Out of this a principle: God has designed beforehand a plan, not the person. The person enters the plan by faith in Christ. God knew beforehand who would enter His plan and who would not.  

            10. Therefore God predesigned that all who believe would be taken by God by the Holy Spirit and entered into union with Christ.

 

            “unto the adoption” — the preposition e)ij plus the accusative of u(ioqesia [u(io = adult son; qesij = 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.” E)ij, the preposition, is used in the concept of result.

 

            The doctrine of adoption

            1. Isagogics: the Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written. The noun u(ioqesia refers to a Roman custom in Paul’s time. In the Roman empire the son was placed under slaves and teachers during his minority. At around age 14 he had graduated from a system of intensive training and discipline which was administered by slaves, those who taught him. He was then recognised as an adult member of the family. The ceremony was called u(ioseqia, the word “adoption” in our passage. The basic concept of the ceremony was freedom to function as an adult citizen in the Roman world. This custom is taken by Paul. There is no concept here of adopting someone outside the family, it is recognition of someone inside the family, that they have now grown up.

            2. We must relate the etymology to the isagogics. The word u(ioseqia comes from the Greek word u(ioj which means adult son, and qesia come from tiqhmi which means to appoint or place. U(ioseqia means, then, to be appointed an adult son as a member of the family. It refers to one of the 36 things that every believer receives at the moment of salvation, and it has to do with the believer’s freedom. At the moment you believe in Christ spiritually you are brefoj, a child on mother’s breast. But you are at the same time in union with Christ who is the Son of God, u(ioj, and being in union with Him positionally you are u(ioj. You are a child spiritually, experientially, but positionally you are an adult son. This indicates that every believer, no matter how he fails, is still another u(ioj of God; he is in union with Christ.

            3. The mechanics of adoption. Positional truth in Ephesians 1:4,5 gives us the mechanics. By means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit every believer enters into union with Christ. Positional truth is the mechanics of adoption. The word tiqhmi, the verb from qesij, is fulfilled by the baptism of the spirit — 1 Corinthians 12:13. At the moment of salvation every believer is an adult son.

            4. The time of adoption is the point of salvation — John 3:3,7; 1:12; Galatians 3:26; Titus 3:5.

            5. The implications of adoption are freedom to have relationship with God and serve Him — Galatians 4:5. Remember that adoption as well as salvation in general gives us freedom toward God, not freedom in the human race. Therefore full time Christian service is nothing more or less than the believer free to have relationship with God — Romans 8:15.

            6. There is also a future aspect of adoption — Romans 8:23, the resurrection body, minus the old sin nature, minus human good. In other words, the future aspect of adoption is ultimate sanctification.

 

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

            “to himself” is e)ij plus autoj 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” — kata plus the accusative of e)udokia which means benevolent purpose.

            “of his will” — we have to be careful here because the word is qelhma and it is in the ablative. It means “from the source of his will.” This is what is called the objective use of qelhma 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.

            Translation: “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 super-grace. Therefore positional truth was predesigned to give every believer eternal security regardless of his experiential status in phase two.

 

            Verse 6 — “To the praise” is a prepositional praise, e)ij plus the accusative singular from the compound noun e)painoj [e)inoj = praise; e)painoj = over-praise] which can be translated applause, recognition, or approval. Literally then, “resulting in recognition.” The preposition e)ij 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 recognise its ultimate parts. The fact of over-praise recognition indicates the response of a believer with an ECS and this is really super-grace 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 super-grace 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 super-grace life. A more detailed response is presented in Psalm 32.

            “of the glory” — the genitive singular doca 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 xarij which is source here, “glory from the source of his grace.”

            “wherein” — an ablative from the relative pronoun o(j 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 xaritow which does not mean to be accepted. Xarij means grace, and xaritew 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 recognises man as a believer being pursued by grace. The dramatic aorist is often used for a status which has just been realised, and the whole objective of Ephesians 1:6 is to become aware of with the result that you enter into the super-grace life. Paul in reversion recovery has come to realise 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 super-grace believer being pursued by God’s grace.

            “us” is the accusative plural of the personal pronoun e)gw. 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 a)gapaw. A)gapaw 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” — e)n 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; 1 Timothy 6:2; Hebrews 6:9; 2 Peter 3:1; 1 John 3:2.

            Translation: “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.”

 

            The doctrine of grace

            The plan of God, operation grace, was provided for man before man was created. Therefore man cannot earn and cannot deserve this grace. Under grace God does the work and man is only the beneficiary. Under super-grace God does the pursuing and man does the benefiting.

            1. Grace is all that God is free to do for man on the basis of the cross. God is free to express His love through grace and He does this without jeopardising His essence. No one can truly give apart from freedom and God gives out of total freedom because of the cross to us. Grace is the work and the plan of God on behalf of man beginning at the cross. It is God’s plan and God’s policy for mankind. It is a plan, a policy, a function, a mechanic, a divine modus operandi, a divine modus vivendi.

            2. Under the principle of concept grace depends upon the essence of God, therefore grace depends on who and what God is. Grace is what God can do for man and still be consistent with His own character.

            3. The believer must sort out the difference between grace and legalism. Legalism is man’s ability and works intruding upon the plan of God. Man’s works cannot coexist with God’s works. Such an implied coexistence is blasphemy. Grace excludes human works.

            4. Grace, sanctification, and the angelic conflict all meet in the plan of God. The greatest thing God can do for a believer is to make him exactly like His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only celebrity of the Church Age. Ultimately it is the objective of God’s plan to make everyone like His Son. Man was created to resolve the angelic conflict and since man was given free will it is inevitable that he would fail. Adam through his free will sinned. Jesus Christ had to become a human being and not an angel in order to resolve the angelic conflict — Hebrews 2;14-16. In other words, the first Adam lost the victory through the fall and the last Adam wins the victory through the cross — Colossians 2:14. Grace found a way to take man created inferior to angels and make him superior, and this is accomplished in all three stages of the plan of God for mankind.

            Stage one is positional sanctification in which the believer enters into union with the glorified Jesus Christ. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, this is an application of current positional truth. Every believer is in union with the Lord Jesus Christ therefore believers are positionally higher than angels. When Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father in His humanity He is higher than angels, we are in union with the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and we are now positionally superior to angels.

            Stage two is our life on this earth and under the construction of the edification complex of the soul and the entrance into the super-grace life it is possible for our experience to represent in an effective way what was provided for us at the point of salvation. In other words, the super-grace life is the only normal Christian life which expresses the priesthood of the believer. Believers who do not grow up never live the normal Christian life. So stage two is designed through grace whereby God can tale a believer living in the devil’s world in the intensified stage of the angelic conflict and make it possible for this individual to adequately represent the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Stage three is comparable to phase three in which the believer receives a resurrection body exactly like that of the Son of God, minus the old sin nature, minus human good. As a result he is exactly like the Son of God fulfilling Philippians 3:21, and this is the ultimate.

            5. Every believer has tasted the grace of God at least once — Hebrews 6:4; 1 Peter 2:3. At the moment of salvation every believer receives from God 36 things and he never loses these things. This grace package of salvation cannot be cancelled or destroyed either by God Himself, by angels, or by mankind. Among the 36 things received by grace at salvation we have the principle of propitiation in 1 John 2:2 whereby the believer regardless of spiritual status is always under maximum love from God. But grace can only find a place to lodge where there is capacity for grace and capacity for grace only comes through the super-grace life.

            6. The occupational hazard for believers is disorientation to grace in the field of reversionism. Under these conditions, in Galatians 5:4, reversionism is called “falling from grace,” and in Hebrews 12:15 it is called “missing grace.” So reversionism is a great danger after one has erected an ECS.

            7. The divine attitude in grace: God is constantly waiting to pour out His grace to every believer in phase two — Isaiah 30:18,19.

            8. Grace in phase two is found in such passages as Psalm 103:8-12; Romans 3:23,24; 4:4; 5:20; Ephesians 2:8,9; Hebrews 2:9.

            9. Grace in phase two is the believer in time.

                        a) The prayer of the super-grace life — Hebrews 4:16. You will use prayer to the maximum once you enter the super-grace life.

                        b) Grace is suffering — 2 Corinthians 12:9,10. Super-grace suffering is designed for greatest possible blessing.

                        c) Grace in growth — 2 Peter 3:18.

                        d) Grace in stability in phase two — 1 Peter 5:12; Hebrews 13:9.

                        e) Grace as the modus vivendi — 2 Corinthians 1:2; Hebrews 12:28.

                        f) Grace in the production of divine good — 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 6:1.

            10. Grace and giving — 2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 4:14-18. Grace orientation is the bona fide motivation for the thought pattern involved in giving.

            11. Grace in suffering — 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

            12. Some axioms concerning grace.

                        a) God is perfect; His plan is perfect.

                        b) A perfect plan can only originate and function from a perfect God.

                        c) If man can do anything meritorious in the plan of God it is no longer perfect.

                        d) A plan is no stronger than its weakest link. For this reason grace excludes all human merit, all human ability. Grace also excludes any form of human good.

                        e) Legalism and human good is always the enemy of grace.

                        f) Therefore works of human righteousness have no place in the plan of God.

                        g) All human good is associated with the greatest mental attitude sin of pride. Reversionism is characterised by pride, jealousy, and other mental attitude sins.

            13. There are four areas of pride which reject God’s grace. This explains Satan’s pride, human pride, why pride is the worst and most devastating of mental attitude sins.

                        a) The pride of the believer who rejects the doctrine of eternal security. To say that you can commit a sin that is greater than the plan of God is blasphemous. Hebrews 12:28.

                        b) The pride of the believer who succumbs to pressure and adversity. He thinks his pressure and suffering is greater than the grace provision of God — 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.

                        c) The pride of pseudo spirituality, the believer who thinks his human systems of spirituality are greater than the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. These systems usually include some system of personality imitation, observation of taboos, confusing the means and the result, assuming that witnessing to 10 people a day is the filling of the Spirit whereas in reality the filling of the Spirit results in effective witnessing, relativity which says in affect “My sins are more refined than your sin, therefore when I compare myself with you I’m spiritual and you are carnal,” the operation of the holy roller who thinks that their pseudo tongues somehow has spiritual content.

                        d) The pride of the believer in emotional revolt of the soul who assumes that his feelings and his emotions and his experiences are more important than Bible doctrine — 2 Corinthians 6:11,12.

            14. Grace is related to the divine assets of John 1:12,16,17; 1 Corinthians 1:4,5; Ephesians 1:6,7.

            15. The principle of super-grace is taught in James 4:6 were it is called “greater grace.”

                        a) The super-grace of the Lord Jesus Christ — John 1:14,16,17.

                        b) The super-grace of the believer in phase two — Philippians 4; James 4; Ephesians 3:19,20, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.

            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.  

 

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

            Verse 7 — the function of the Lord Jesus Christ in harmonising God’s love with God’s holiness. “In whom” — the preposition e)n plus the locative of the relative pronoun o(j. The relative pronoun must always have an antecedent. Here it is the Lord Jesus Christ — “the one having been loved.”

            “we have” — present active indicative of e)xw 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 super-grace 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 a)polutrwsij, the strongest word for being purchased from slavery. It means a deliverance from slavery by payment. A)polutrwisij means the slave was purchased and released as a free person.

            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 utilise his freedom. He has to learn things, he has to know things. You and I at the point of salvation are freed from the slavemarket 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 super-grace 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.

 

            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 harmonised 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.

            Verse 7 begins with the preposition e)n plus the locative of the relative pronoun o(j. 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 e)xw 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, a)polutrwsij which is the strongest of all Greek words for this. Lutrwsij means to purchase; a)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 slavemarket 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.”

 

            The doctrine of redemption

            1. The principle of redemption is found in John 8:31-36 in which the Pharisees challenged the Lord Jesus Christ. They said, “Why do you say that we as a nation are slaves? We have never been in slavery to anyone.” At the time that they spoke they were in slavery to the Roman empire, they were in slavery to the Pharisees, they were in slavery to religionism and legalism, and in addition to that they were born slaves in the slavemarket of sin, i.e. born with old sin natures. But the Lord Jesus Christ made an issue only out of the old sin nature.

            2. Christ paid the ransom for sin on the cross. In other words, Christ purchased redemption — Psalm 34:22; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18,19.

            3. Redemption is a doctrine which the believer can apply in time of pressure or catastrophe and find both blessing and happiness — Job 19:25,26.

            4. Redemption results in the biblical doctrine of adoption — Galatians 4:4-6.

            5. The doctrine of redemption was communicated in the Old Testament sacrifices by the shedding of animal blood — Hebrews 9:22.

            6. Redemption provides the basis for the believer’s eternal inheritance — Hebrews 9:15.

            7. The blood of Christ is the ransom money or the purchase price of redemption — Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 John 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18,19. The blood depicts the spiritual death of Christ.

            8. Redemption includes the forgiveness of sins — Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14.

            9. Redemption provides the basis for justification — Romans 3:24.

           

            “through his blood” — dia plus the genitive of a(ima. 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. 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 Blood of Christ

            1. The blood of Christ is represented by animal blood in the Old Testament. Blood is said to be the seat of animal life: “The life of the flesh is in the blood” — Leviticus 17:10-14. This is not talking about people, it is talking about animals. The life of mankind is in the soul, not the blood. The animal does not have a soul.

            2. Animal blood was used in the Old Testament sacrifices to represent the spiritual death of Christ on the cross — Leviticus chapters 1-3. Therefore we have a representative analogy between the blood of animals in the Old Testament and the spiritual death of Christ on the cross, so that in the New Testament whenever the blood of Christ is mentioned it is referring to His spiritual death just as the animals refers to that in the Old Testament. Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 10:19; 13:20; 1 Peter 1:2.

            3. The doctrine of redemption was communicated in the Old Testament by means of animal sacrifices — Hebrews 9:22.

            4. Christ did not die physically on the cross by bleeding to death — John 19:30,33,34. The physical death of Christ occurred as an act of His own volition, not by bleeding — John 10:18. After His work of salvation was completed Jesus Christ dismissed His spirit into the presence of the Father — Luke 23:46; Matthew 27:50. When Christ died physically His blood was still in His body — John 19:34.

            5. Therefore the blood of Christ is a part of a representative analogy between the physical death of the animal in the Old Testament sacrifice and the spiritual death of Christ on the cross bearing our sins — 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24.

            6. The blood of Christ depicts four doctrines of soteriology: a) Expiation — Revelation 1:5. Expiation means that Christ paid the penalty of sin and blood of the animal dying physically represents Christ dying spiritually for our sins; b) Redemption — Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18,19; c) Justification — Romans 5:9 where we are said to be justified by His blood; d) Sanctification — Hebrews 13:12, we are sanctified by His blood. All of these refer to the spiritual death of Christ on the cross making it possible for us to be free from the penalty of sin [expiation], liberated from the slavemarket of sin [redemption], receive the righteousness of God imputed [justification], and set apart unto God forever [sanctification].

            7. The blood of Christ is also the basis for the rebound technique — Leviticus chapters 4 and 5; cf. 1 John 1:7 with 1 John 1:9.

           

            The blood is now actually defined: “the forgiveness of sins.” The word for “forgiveness” is a)fesij which means forgiveness, remission, pardon. Basically the noun connotes the cancellation of an obligation. It also connotes punishment or forgiveness of guilt. All of these were accomplished on the cross when Christ was bearing our sins. Remember that forgiveness of sins is in apposition to blood. The word “sins” is paraptwma and is not usually the word used. It is used for sins against God, sins in the sense of being all against God. When this word is in the singular it refers to Adams original sins, as in Romans 5:15, but the plural indicates the sins of the entire human race, as in Romans 4:25; 5:16; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 2:13. Ephesians 1:7; James 5:16. So it should be translated “the cancellation of sins.” Our sins were canceled when Christ bore them on the cross and God the Father judged them on the cross in Christ.

            “according to the riches” — kata plus the accusative plural of ploutoj plus the definite article. Ploutoj means riches or wealth, it also means abundance.

            “of his grace” — genitive singular of xarij to describe the plan of God. The principle: Unlimited divine resources are thrown into God’s plan under the concept of grace. The whole character of God, the power of God, the ingenuity of God, the faithfulness of God, all meet in providing a perfect plan for you and me. The wealth of grace is a description, then, of that perfect plan. The wealth or the abundance of grace is the source of cancellation of our sins on the cross. The pattern is set in salvation and there is no blessing in time or in eternity apart from this principle — God’s grace. Under grace everything depends on who and what God is.

            Translation: “In whom [in Christ] we keep on having the redemption through his blood, the cancellation of sins, according to the wealth of his grace.”

            Christ bearing our sins in His own body on the cross is the blood, is the coin of the realm, is the payment for our release from the slavemarket of sin.

            Verses 8-10, how the Father’s plan centres around the Son.

            Verse 8 — the Father’s plan is focused in the Son. “Wherein” is an ablative singular from the relative pronoun o(j. It should be translated “From which.” The antecedent of this relative pronoun is grace, and therefore we can translate it “From which grace.”

            “he hath abounded” is the aorist active indicative of perisseuw which means to have over and above, to superabound. This is a culminative aorist in which the event is presented in its entirety but regarded from the standpoint of existing results. The existing results: we are liberated from the slavemarket of sin. God the Father planned in eternity past everything we would ever need in grace. Therefore from this grace God the Father has caused to superabound toward us these things through the daily function of GAP. The active voice: God the Father is the subject of the verb and therefore He produces the action. God the Father centres His plan around the only celebrity for phase two, the Lord Jesus Christ. So this Father picks up the work of the Father, delineated what He has planned for the believer priest through the person of Jesus Christ. The indicative mood is the reality of grace superabounding to the believer through the daily function of GAP.

            “toward us” — the preposition e)ij plus the accusative plural of e)gw. Toward all super-grace believers.

             “in all wisdom” — the preposition e)n plus the instrumental of two words, paj, and sofia which means spiritual insight into things through knowledge of doctrine — technical here for Bible doctrine in the right lobe or the heart of the believer, accomplished through the function of GAP. This should be translated “by means of all doctrine.”

            “and prudence” — also an instrumental singular and also an object of the same preposition e)n. This word is fronhsij and it means objective thinking. It is used actually for Bible doctrine on the launching pad of the right lobe. it is the divine viewpoint of life, it is the fulfillment of 2 Corinthians 10:4,5 — “bring every thought into captivity for Christ.”

            Translation: “From which grace he [God the Father] has caused to superabound toward us [super-grace believers] by mans of all doctrine [in the right lobe] and divine viewpoint [doctrine on the launching pad].”

           

            Verse 9 — “Having made known” is the aorist active participle of the verb gnwrizw which means to make known or to reveal. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist which becomes a gnomic aorist used for a truth which must be regarded as an absolute. The active voice: God the Father has made known His plan and His grace through doctrine contained in the canon of scripture and through no other source. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb, “he cause to superabound to us.” The believer had to function daily under GAP for a long time before God the Father superabounded toward him. In other words, in super-grace God superabounds toward us. Therefore superabounding has to come from a knowledge and a continuous knowledge of Bible doctrine and this requires the daily function of GAP. There is no substitute for the daily feeding upon the Word of God.

            “unto us” is the dative plural of the pronoun e)gw used here as an indirect object. The dative of indirect object is one in which the person in whose interest the action is being performed is emphasised. Out of the indirect object we have the dative of advantage. So we are receiving great advantage for having known these things.

            “the mystery” — musthrion is a technical word in the New Testament epistles. It has a definite article with it. The noun was originally used to depict the doctrines and the secrets of the Greek fraternities of the ancient world. Here it refers to the classification of doctrine known as Church Age truth. This classification was hidden from the Old Testament saints and communicators but is now revealed through the Church Age apostles, as per Ephesians 3:1-5. 

 

            The doctrine of the mystery

            1. The word musthrion is derived from an Attic Greek word musthj which was a person being initiated into a Greek fraternity in the ancient world. There is a verb that goes with it, also from the Attic Greek, muew, which means to initiate or to instruct in the basic doctrines of the fraternity. Therefore the doctrines or the secrets of the fraternity are known only to those who have been initiated and not to the outsiders. Jesus used this meaning with the disciples in Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:10,11.

            2. In the epistles of the New Testament the word “mystery” refers to some aspect of Church Age doctrine — Ephesians 3:2-6.

            3. Mystery doctrine of the Church Age was not revealed in the Old Testament — Romans 16:25,26; Colossians 1:26,27.

            4. Part of the mystery doctrine, including the blindness or hardness of Israel during the Church Age, is also a part of the fifth cycle of discipline — Romans 11:25.

            5. The mystery as Church Age doctrine was a part of the divine decrees in eternity past — 1 Corinthians 2:7.

            6. The pastor or minister is responsible for communicating Church Age doctrine. This is called the stewardship of the mysteries — 1 Corinthians 4:1.

            7. The Rapture of the Church is a part of the mystery doctrine — 1 Corinthians 15:51. This means that the Rapture of the Church was not revealed in Old Testament times.

            8. Mystery doctrine is always related to the dispensation of the Church and only to the Church Age — Ephesians 1:9; 3:2.

            9. Mystery doctrine is understood through the function of GAP — Colossians 2:2; 1 Timothy 3:9.

 

            “of his will” — the genitive singular of qelhma which qualifies the word “mystery” in this passage. It means will, purpose, or design. The will, the purpose, and the design of God are part of the doctrine of divine decrees, they were known in eternity past but not revealed until the Church Age.

 

            The doctrine of divine decrees

            1. The divine decrees is the sum total of God’s plan designed in eternity past.

            2. The plan centres around the person of Jesus Christ, as revealed from the commands of 1 John 3:23; Ephesians 1:4-6.

            3. Entrance into the plan of God is based on the principle of grace whereby the sovereignty of God and the free will of man meet at the cross — and they meet without any merit on man’s part. Man is never benefited under God’s plan by his talent, his works, his thoughts, or his plans. Man is blessed on the basis of who and what God is and what God has provided through grace.

            4. God’s plan was so designed in eternity past so as to include all events, actions, related to their causes and conditions as a part of an indivisible system, every link being a part of the integrity of the whole. The theological definition of the doctrine of divine decrees: The decree of God is His eternal, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be, in their causes, conditions, successions and relationships, and determining their certain futurition.

            5. Without interfering with human volition in any way God has designed a plan so perfect that it includes cause and effect, directive, provision, preservation and function for all believers.

            6. Under His plan God has decreed to do some things directly and some things through the agency of Israel and the Church, and some through individuals.

            7. Therefore there are primary, secondary and tertiary functions within the plan of God, but all these constitute one great all-comprehensive plan, perfect, eternal, unchangeable, without loss of integrity.

            8. The plan of God is consistent with human freedom. God does not limit or coerce human freedom, however a distinction should be made between what God causes, like the cross, and what God permits, like sin. God created man with free will, He permits human volition to function. This is how Adam sinned. God is not the author of sin, man’s volition is the source of sin in the human race. God cannot tempt or in any way authorise sin.

            9. This demonstrates that man has free will. God never condones or causes sin in the human race, and in the perfect environment of the garden God warned man against sin and its consequences.

            10. Distinction should be made between the divine decrees which are related to the plan of God in both design and action and divine laws which regulate human conduct and function in the universe. Divine laws include laws of nature, laws of divine establishment, laws of function for blessing in a national entity.

            11. As a principle of logic God’s decrees do not arise from His foreknowledge. The foreknowledge of God makes nothing certain, it merely perceives in eternity past the things that are certain.

            12. There is a difference between foreknowledge and foreordination. The decrees made certain, foreordination established certainty while foreknowledge does not. Nothing can be known until it is decreed — 1 Peter 1:2; Romans 8:29; Acts 2:23.

            13. Therefore the elect are foreknown and the foreknown are elect. In other words, God knew ahead of time which way every free will would decide at any given point in history. This does not imply divine coercion. God’s plan, however, anticipates every decision of history. As free will decides so God decrees — John 3:36; 1 John 3:23.

            14. Since God cannot contradict His own essence He plans the best for the believer. God is perfect, His plan and provision are perfect.

            15. The cross was decreed in eternity past but the human volition of Christ decided for the cross at Gethsemane — Matthew 26:39, 42. God has provided salvation for you through the cross but it must be your free will choice in time — John 3:36.

            16. No decree in itself opposes human freedom, but once a choice is made from your free will then your entrance into the plan of God by faith in Jesus Christ means that the function of the decrees does limit your human freedom while at the same time giving you your volition, your freedom to serve God. A believer, to have inner happiness, must choose to function under GAP. Malfunction under GAP means misery for him. Once you believe in Christ the divine decrees do limit you. They limit you to a life of taking in spiritual food, manna from heaven, Bible doctrine. And the more concentrated your intake the sooner you reach super-grace. The sooner you reach super-grace the sooner God is free to benefit you to the maximum. The super-grace life frees God to give you maximum blessing.

           

            “according to his good pleasure” — the preposition kata plus the accusative of e)udokia [e)u = good; dokia = taken from dokew for objective thinking] which means a norm or a standard. So it is “according to the standard of his good thinking.”

            “which” — the ablative singular of the relative pronoun o(j, “from which.”

            “he hath purposed” — the aorist middle indicative of protiqhmi which means to predetermine [pro = before; tiqhmi = appoint, design]. God planned it all in eternity past. The aorist tense is a gnomic aorist, used for a doctrine regarded as being an absolute.

            The middle voice:

                        a) In the middle the subject participates in the results of the action. The subject is God the Father. It is God the Father who predetermined and predesigned.

                        b) The middle voice stresses the subject as the agent. God the Father did the thinking and therefore becomes the agent of the divine plan.

                        c) The middle voice relates the action of the verb more intimately to the subject, and through His predesigned plan God the Father is intimately related to us as believers. This intimate relationship is described under the family analogy. He is the Father, we are the children.

                        d) We have in this case an indirect middle in which the agent produces the action. God the Father is emphasised.

            We also have in this verb the indicative mood. It is the reality of the predesigned and predetermined plan of God.

            “in himself” is a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the locative of a)utoj, a reflexive pronoun. This is the principle of union with Christ. The mechanics of the baptism of the Spirit are unique to the Church Age. it is a part of the doctrine of the mystery. God’s plan for the Church Age is related to positional sanctification. In this way, the Father’s plan centres around the Son and because of this all believers at the point of salvation are entered into union with Christ.

            Translation: “Having made known to us the mystery of his will [purpose, design], according to the standard of his good thinking from which he predesigned in him [in Christ].”

            Verse 10 — “That.” We have a prepositional phrase here, e)ij plus the accusative which means “With reference to.”

            “the dispensation of the fullness of times.” The Church Age is not the dispensation of the fullness of times, that is the Millennium. The Millennium is used as an illustration.

 

            The doctrine of dispensations

            A. DEFINITION.

            1. A dispensation is a period of human history expressed in terms of divine revelation.

            2. Dispensations are the divine categories of human history or the divine outline of human history.

            3. In effect, dispensations are God’s interpretation of human history as well as the divine plan for man related to time.

            4. The believer’s orientation to time is vitally necessary to understand God’s plan, and therefore understanding God’s plan he understands God’s purpose.

            5. In every age or dispensation the plan of God operates through a specific agency. The last one was Israel, now is the Church. In the Millennium Christ is the ruler.

            6. Salvation is always the same in every dispensation: personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed in that dispensation.

            B. GREEK WORDS TO PORTRAY THE DISPENSATIONAL CONCEPT IN THE NT.

            1. Xronoj — time as a succession of events. Most frequently this word is used to portray history, the events of history in chronological order. Xronoj used technically in the dispensational concept is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:1.

            2. Kairoj — time in the concept of an epoch or a period. It is used for the dispensations or the organisation of events in categories — 1 Thessalonians 5:1.

            3. O)ikonomoj — is the Greek word usually translated “dispensations.” A word that goes with it is o)ikonomia. It was used originally for the administration of an estate or a household. It refers to God’s administration of believers for both blessing and judgment plus God’s handling of the human race during the angelic conflict. In each dispensation God appoints a stewardship or an administration. He appointed Israel in the last dispensation, the Church in this dispensation, and Christ in the Millennium. Ephesians 3:2; Colossians 1:25.

            4. A)ion, translated by the word “ages” in the English. It is a period of time, a divine category of human history, an era or an age. It is used in this way in Ephesians 3:5; Colossians 1:26.

            B. THE AGE OF THE GENTILES — Genesis 1-11.

            This age is divided into three parts: a) The period of innocence, really the period of positive volition; b) Conscience is the period of negative volition; c) The period of the development of the laws of divine establishment.

            The ultimate in the development of the laws of divine establishment, in order to protect the human race during the angelic conflict and keep it from destruction, is the provision of nationalism. Internationalism is an attack, nationalism is the basis for the survival of the human race giving a maximum freedom to individuals. Nationalism gives maximum freedom, internationalism is just as much slavery as any system of slavery that has ever existed.

            Under the Age of the Gentiles we have one language, one race. We have the development of and the attack upon the four basic concepts in the laws of divine establishment. The skeleton for the laws of divine establishment are the divine institutions: positive volition or freedom which was attacked in Genesis 3; marriage and the family was attacked in Genesis 6; nationalism was attacked in Genesis 11. This particular age goes from Adam to Babel. There was no canon of scripture, all divine revelation was given verbally through dreams or visions, and so on. Salvation was by faith in Jesus Christ, and during that dispensation there was no missionary agency.

            C. THE AGE OF ISRAEL.

            It, too, is divided into three parts; a) The period of the patriarchs from Abraham to Moses; b) The period of the law from Moses to Christ. Then we have an interruption of the Jewish Age in which the Church Age is inserted, and with the Rapture of the Church we have the end of the Jewish Age which is the Tribulation — from the Rapture to the second advent of Jesus Christ. During this period there are many languages in order to avoid any further internationalism that would destroy the human race. There are many races. The missionary agency is Israel. Security for regenerate Israel was found under four unconditional covenants: Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New Covenants to Israel. Israel had as the administrator of the dispensation a specific discipline for failure — the fifth cycle of discipline. It was administered to the northern kingdom once, to the southern kingdom twice. This dispensation terminates with the second advent, it was interrupted by the cross. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ as illustrated by Abraham who believed in the Lord and it was credited to his account for righteousness — Genesis 15:6. Spirituality for the dispensation of Israel was the function of the faith-rest technique.

 

            D. THE CHURCH AGE.

            This is found in the New Testament epistles and in John chapters 14-17. The Church Age is divided into two parts. a) The pre-Canon period from 30 AD to about 96 AD; b) The post-Canon period which continues to the Rapture. This is the period of the completed canon of scripture. In this dispensation are a number of characteristics: the uniqueness of the believer; the baptism of the Spirit whereby every believer enters into union with Christ; the universal indwelling of Christ; the universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit; the universal priesthood of the believer; a completed canon of scripture; every believer in full time Christian service as an ambassador; every believer’s life having meaning and purpose and definition regardless of who he is; we have one celebrity in Jesus Christ and many heroes. Any believer who enters the super-grace life and remains there is a super-grace hero.

            E. THE AGE OF CHRIST (THE MILLENNIUM).

            This is the period that begins at the second advent and Jesus Christ will rule the world for 1000 years. This is the time of perfect environment on the earth. There will be no religion. The father of religion, Satan, is removed from the world — Revelation 20:1-3. For the first time in history the ministry of God the Holy Spirit includes ecstatics — Joel 2:28,29. Israel is restored as a nation. For the first time in human history, under the reign of Jesus Christ, there will be universal peace. There will also be universal prosperity — Psalm 72:7,16. There will be a universal knowledge of God — Isaiah 11:9. There will be perfect world government — Zechariah 14:9; Isaiah 11:1,2; Psalm 72. There will be radical changes in nature, creation will be loosened from the bondage of sin — Romans 8:19-22. Animals will lose their ferocity — Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:25. Plant life will abound — Isaiah 35:1,2,7. At the beginning of the millennium there will be only believers, the survivors of the Tribulation. As the Millennium continues under perfect environment there will be a great number of unbelievers, and there will be a revolt which terminates the Millennium. However, life is extended and during the Millennium death takes a holiday except for the administration of capital punishment as part of the administration of justice. Justice will be available to all, according to Isaiah 11:3-5; Psalm 72:12-14. There will be a great revolt at the end of the Millennium and after it is put down there will be the destruction of the earth, the last judgment and the beginning of the new heavens, the new earth, the new Jerusalem forever and ever.

 

            Verse 10 — “of the fullness of times” is a genitive of description of the noun plhrwma in the singular. With it is the word “time” in the plural. The word is xairoj which is time as an epoch and it is used for dispensations or a succession of events in a category. So it should be translated, “of the full measure of times.” The full measure of epochs or dispensations is a reference to the Millennium, both the last and the full measure of all the dispensations. The Millennium is mentioned at this point to show the objective of time as far as God’s plan is concerned. We live in the Church Age, a dispensation which is not associated with the Millennium in any way.

 

            What can be expected from the Millennium?

            1. We have perfect environment because Satan is bound and because there is no religion on the earth — Revelation 20:1-3. Remember that Jesus Christ supersedes Satan as the ruler of this world at the second advent. As long as Satan is the ruler of this world religion will exist.

            2. There will be an optimum spirituality upon the earth — Joel 2:28,29; Isaiah 65:24; Zechariah 14:16,17. The filling of the Spirit is not ecstatics today.

            3. In the Millennium we will finally have the peace of Jerusalem. The peace of Jerusalem can be a matter of prayer when the Tribulation begins because it will be fulfilled by the second advent. Israel is out under the fifth cycle of discipline until Christ returns. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who will finally deliver and regather Israel — Isaiah 5:26-30; 10:19-23; 11:11-16; 65:19; Joel 2:16ff; Zechariah 8:20-23; 10:6-12.

            4. The fulfillment of the unconditional covenants to Israel — Daniel 9:24.

            5. The nations will enjoy for the first time since Adam’s innocence perfect environment under the reign of Christ. This perfect environment is described in many ways. a) Universal peace — Isaiah 2:4; Hosea 2:18; Psalm 46:9; Micah 4:3; b) Universal prosperity — Psalm 72:7,16; c) Perfect world government because the government is run by the Lord Jesus Christ — Isaiah 11:1,2; Zechariah 14:9; d) Everyone will understand Bible doctrine in those days. They may not accept it or agree but there will be a universal knowledge of God — Isaiah 11:9; e) Perfect environment will exist in nature — Romans 8:19-22; animals will lose their ferocity — Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:25; plant life will abound — Isaiah 35:1,27;

            6. The longevity of the human race — Isaiah 65:20, death will be abolished except in cases of capital punishment.

            7. Perfect objectivity in justice — Isaiah 11:3-5; Psalm 72:12-14.

            8. The Millennium begins with a population composed of believers only. The baptism of fire at the second advent removes all unbelievers from the earth’s population. Jewish unbelievers are removed in Ezekiel 20:34-38; Gentile unbelievers are removed in Matthew 25:31-46. So the beginning of the Millennium begins with believers only but this will change as the population increases.

            9. The place of the millennium in scripture should be very clearly delineated. Wherever you find Old Testament passages dealing with the Millennium these are all prophecies. None of them are fulfilled on Old testament times. Whenever you find Millennial passage sin the Gospels they are still prophecy, but like the sermon on the mount the Millennium was offered with the reign of Christ. Christ offered Himself to the Jews as their King. The sermon on the mount is the platform for the Millennium, it is not for the present. There are certain paragraphs in the sermon on the mount which have application today but only application and the application comes through reiteration in parallel passages dealing with the Church Age. The Millennium is proclaimed in the Gospels — “at hand.” It is postponed in the epistles. Due to the rejection of Christ the Millennium is not a reality in the Church Age.

            10. In the Tribulation the Millennium is plagiarised — Matthew 13, we have Satan trying to set up a pseudo Millennium. He does this in Israel, he tries to attract the believers who have fled to come out of their caves and mountains and come down because he has such a beautiful setup for them, “the millennium is here.”

            11. At the second advent the millennium is presented.

            12. The Millennium is a time of population expansion. As the millennium continues then believers will exist in greater numbers.

            13. At the end of the millennium Satan will be released and there will be a revolution. It will be very brief — Revelation 20:7-10. This revolution indicates that perfect environment is not the solution to man’s problems. This will be the final demonstration of the Millennium.

 

            “he might gather together” — aorist middle infinitive of a)nakefalaiow [a)na = step by step or again; kefalaion = the head, the sum, the total] which means to sum up, to complete, to total, to bring together several things into one total. it means “that he might bring together under one total or one head.” This is the aorist middle infinitive, this is the culminative aorist. The second advent is the end of many things and so we have the culminative aorist here. The middle voice is reflexive and therefore we must translate this “that he might bring together for himself under one head.” The infinitive denotes purpose. The word “that” introduces the concept of a purpose clause, the infinitive here acts as a purpose clause. It is a purpose clause because it is a middle infinitive.

            “all things” — the accusative plural of paj plus the definite article which is literally “the all things,” referring to the Old Testament saints, the Church Age believers, the Tribulational believers.

            “in Christ” — here is where the preposition is followed by the instrumental rather than the locative: e)n plus the instrumental of Xristoj. It is “by means of Christ,” not “in Christ.” Christ at the second advent in the means of bringing all these things under one person. It is a reference to the second advent which resolves both the angelic and human conflicts.

            “which” is not found in the original.

            “are in heaven” — e)pi plus the locative plural of o)uranoj, referring to the Old Testament saints, Church Age believers, Tribulational martyrs; and e)pi plus the locative means “in the heavens.”

            “and which are on earth” — e)pi plus the genitive. The preposition for its meaning depends on the case of the object. O)ouranoj is locative, so that means “in the heavens.” E)pi plus the genitive means “upon.” So we have “in the heavens and upon the earth.” The object of e)pi the second time is the genitive of gh which is the word for earth. These are the Tribulational saints who are alive at the second advent.

            “in him” is e)n plus the locative of a)utoj. Those who have a relationship with Christ, both dead and alive, are involved.

            Translation: “With reference to the dispensation of the full measure of the times to bring together for himself [God the Father] under one head [Christ] the all things [dead and alive believers] by means of the Christ, those in the heavens [those who have died], those upon the earth [living believers] in him.”

 

            Summary

            1. Those in heaven include the Old Testament saints, Church Age believers, Tribulational martyrs.

            2. By the second advent all these categories will be in resurrection bodies, including the Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs at the second advent.

            3. Those on the earth are Tribulational believers alive and delivered on the earth at the second advent.

            4. They become the basis of a Millennial population and they will not receive resurrection bodies until the end of the Millennium, along with Millennial saints.

 

            Verses 11-12, a continuation of the function of the Son at the present time. We go back to the dispensation in which we live.

            Verse 11 — “In whom is the preposition e)n plus the locative of the relative pronoun o(j, referring to Christ.

            “also” is the adjunctive use of kai.

            “we have obtained an inheritance” — aorist passive indicative from klhrow. The aorist tense is gnomic, used to present a doctrine which is an absolute and axiomatic in its character. Therefore it is described as something that has actually occurred. “In whom also we have received a destiny” is what it means in the gnomic aorist. The passive voice: the believer receives the action of the verb. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that once you believe in Jesus Christ, though you may live on the earth a long time and have many discouraging things, you are in the plan of God.

            “being predestinated” — aorist passive participle of proorizw [pro = before; orizw = to design or to mark out] which means “having been predesigned.” The aorist tense is a culminative aorist in which an event is presented in its entirety but regarded from the standpoint of its existing results. God the Father predesigned everything we would ever need. The destiny was predesigned, our heritage was predesigned. Therefore the Father predesigned in eternity past every need we would ever have in time or for all eternity. The passive voice: the believer receives the action of the verb, namely everything he will ever need, in eternity past. This is a participle. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb. The main verb: “we have received a destiny.” God provided everything we would ever need before he provided us a destiny.

            “according to the purpose” — prepositional phrase, kata plus the accusative of proqesij which means a predetermined plan. There is no definite article. The absence of the definite article calls special attention to the character of the verb. It should be translated “according to the predetermined plan and purpose of God.”

            “of him” is not found in the original.

            “who worketh” should be translated “from the one who worketh” because this is an ablative singular definite article plus the ablative singular present active participle of e)nergew. It should be translated “from the one putting into operation the all things.” It refers to all creatures of the universe as well as all the laws of the universe.

            “after the counsel” — kata plus the accusative of boulh which is the word for decree.

            “of his own will” — the ablative singular of qelhma which refers to the will, the purpose, or the design “from himself.”

            Translation: “In whom also we have received the destiny, having been predesigned according to a predetermined plan from the one [God the Father] putting into operation the all things according to the decree from his will [purpose and design].”

            Verse 12 — “That” is not found in the original. Instead we have the preposition e)ij plus the present active infinitive of e)imi. This is an unusual prepositional phrase because the object of the preposition is an infinitive instead of a noun. E)ij here connotes result with the infinitive. With it is a pronoun in the accusative of general reference and so it should be translated “With the result that we should be.” We have E)ij plus e)imi plus the accusative plural of e)gw. The personal e)gw is used as the subject rather than as an object. Everything that we have had in the first eleven verses explains some of the principles of provision. It doesn’t explain the details of our provision, it explains the principles by which God keeps His own character intact and provides for us in eternity past and makes the same provision available in time. At this point now we see why.

            “to the praise” — a second prepositional phrase, this time e)ij plus a noun in the accusative, e)peinoj [e)pi = super; einoj = praise] which means “super praise, over praise, maximum praise” — “for the purpose of maximum praise.”

            “of his glory” — genitive singular of doca which refers to the glory of God the Father. So, “With the result that we should be for the purpose of maximum praise of his glory.”

 

            Summary

            1. The believer continues on earth after salvation as a definite part of the Father’s predetermined plan and provision of grace. It is the Father’s plan for us to continue on the earth after salvation for X amount of time. The believer continues on earth after salvation as a part of the Father’s predetermined plan and provision of grace. There are certain things that the Father can provide now in time that He could never provide in eternity. Time presents its own provision because time is the only time that believers will ever suffer, will ever have problems or difficulties, or be involved in a great conflict, the angelic conflict. So the believer continues on earth after salvation as a part of the Father’s predetermined plan.

            2. The provision of grace demonstrates the Father’s ability to protect, to preserve, to bless the believer in Satan’s domain of cosmos diabolicus; and in this dispensation to bless under maximum pressure.

            3. The ultimate in living on this earth as a believer is the function of the super-grace life in which the believer under super-grace provision exists to the super praise of the Father’s glory.

            4. The Father is glorified to the maximum by the super-grace believer functioning under super-grace provision. 5. Since God provides for maximum blessing in the super-grace life God receives the super praise of His glory.

 

            The doctrine of glory

            1. Glory is used in a number of ways in the scripture. The first way it is used is connected with the essence of God. The essence box is the glory of God. Since His essence is perfect glory is used for the entire essence box. E.g. Romans 3:23, “… all have come short of the glory [essence box] of God.” Ephesians 1:17; Deuteronomy 5:24; Psalm 21:5 are used as illustrations of where the word “glory” is used for the essence of God. Since God has an inherent glory one of the objectives of Bible doctrine is the realisation of this inherent glory and provision.

            2. Glory is used for the edification complex of the soul. The first objective of the Christian way of life is the ECS. Ephesians 3:21; Colossians 1:27; 1 Peter 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:14.

            3. The right woman is the glory of the right man — 1 Corinthians 11:7,15. When right woman finds her right man she so responds to him as to become his glory. The woman’s long hair is the sign of her glory but her soul’s function is the actual glory. Just as the ECS reflects the glory of God when a man finds his right woman she reflects his glory.

            4. The grace of God is also described as glory — Ephesians 1:6. That is another way in which the believer demonstrates the glory of God with his capacity for grace in the super-grace life. In the super-grace life grace pursues him. The pursuit of grace means living by grace and living by grace glorifies God.

            5. The provision of God’s grace is also called wealth — “the riches of his glory,” Ephesians 1:18; 3:16; Philippians 4:19.

            6. There is a glory in the future which is beyond human cognisance. This is called the glory of eternity. Heaven and eternal life are described as glory in 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:10; 1 Peter 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3.7. There is

another rather negative use of the word glory in scripture. Human glamour is described as glory in 1 Peter 1:24; Philippians 3:19. This is a limited use of the word.

            8. Glory is used to describe the wonders of the universe — 1 Corinthians 15:40,41.

            9. Glory is used to describe the resurrection body of the believer — 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Thessalonians 3:14.

            10. Glory is associated with operation footstool and the presentation of the Church as the bride of Christ at the second advent — Hebrews 2:10.

 

            “who” is not found in the original, there is no relative pronoun here. Instead we have a participle under the phrase, “first trusted.” This is a perfect active participle of a compound verb proelpizw [pro = before; elpizw = in the present tense means to hope. In the present tense, the imperfect, and also the aorist it means also to trust] which in the perfect tense means to have confidence in something. It should be “having previously placed our confidence in Christ.” The objective of this verb is to bring out the principle that the believer’s soul was saved at the point of belief in Christ. At that point God gave him immediately 36 things, a guarantee you could never lose your salvation. The point is that if the believer had confidence in Him for salvation [believed], which required a minimum of faith and he was saved, what are the potentialities of phase two with a little more than no faith at all? The whole objective here is to show that he started out by believing in Christ with practically no faith at all, and if he started out that way, what is keeping him from going all the way to super-grace?

 

            Summary

            1. Before anyone enters the proqesij [plan of God designed in eternity past] of God he must first of all believe in Jesus Christ. We can’t be in the plan of God until we believe — salvation.

            2. In the compound of the verb proelpizw the perfect tense always means to have confidence.

            3. We must first have confidence in Christ before we fulfill the purpose of super praise to God’s glory.

            4. The proqesij of God must have a beginning for those who enter in time — faith in Jesus Christ.

            5. With this grace beginning and the permanent provision of doctrine in the canon there is no limit to the super praise of his glory. The only limitation is imposed by negative volition toward Bible doctrine.

            6. The only limitation relates to neglect, rejection, or indifference to Bible doctrine resulting in becoming a spiritual moron or reversionist.

           

            Verse 13 — “In whom” is a preposition, e)n plus the locative of the relative pronoun o(j. The antecedent is the Lord Jesus Christ.

            “ye also” — the adjunctive use of kai plus the nominative plural of the pronoun su meaning all believers.

            “after that” does not occur in the original, it is just a clumsy attempt to translate an aorist participle. “Having heard” is the correct translation of the aorist active participle of a)kouw. You can’t get it without hearing it. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb. The main verb is “you were sealed.” They actually heard the gospel before they were saved. The phrase here, “after you heard the word of truth,” refers to the expression of doctrine. “In whom also you all having the expression of doctrine.” There are many expressions of doctrine. “Word of truth” means expression of doctrine and the one that is pertinent here is the gospel. They heard the gospel before they were sealed.

            “the gospel of your salvation” is a reference to the fact that everyone in order to be saved, to have eternal life, must have information on which to make a decision. The information on which to make a decision is called the gospel. The word e)uaggelion means “good news.” It is good news that Jesus Christ took our place and bore our sins in His own body on the tree. The word “salvation” here is the genitive of description. This is good news of salvation. So we should read, “In whom also you, having heard the expression of the doctrine, the good news of your salvation.” The word in the genitive of description is swthria. This describes the type of good news that is being presented.

            “in whom also after that” should be “in whom having believed” — the aorist active participle, this time of pisteuw, the point of salvation. But before, we had a)kouw. You hear the gospel first. You hear the gospel first and then you respond by believing. Pisteuw is non-meritorious reception of the gospel. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, the result of having heard. The active voice: mankind produces the action of the verb at the point of salvation, he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb, the main verb is “ye were sealed.”

 

            Faith

            Faith is a non-meritorious system of thinking. It is bona fide thinking, it is the first thinking that you ever do. You must accept words as vocabulary, words as representing something, before you can put them together and think. The original understanding of anything comes to you through a perceptive system called faith.

            Since faith is non-meritorious thinking there must be an object of faith which has the merit. Faith in salvation: the object of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ — Acts 18:27; Romans 4:16. There is no merit in believing, whatever merit there is always occurs in the object of faith. Therefore to believe is a transitive verb. A transitive verb always has a subject and always has an object. The subject may be implied or stated the object may be implied or stated, but a transitive verb has both. In other words, it is the transition from the subject to the object. The subject is anyone in the human race, the object is the Lord Jesus Christ and only the Lord Jesus Christ. The subject never has any merit because the subject is producing the action. The object always has the merit because the object is the basis for the subject action. Salvation is accomplished by the object, the subject merely puts his faith in the object, and placing one’s faith is thinking.

 

            “ye were sealed” — the aorist passive indicative of sfragizw. The word means to be stamped with a seal. It is a culminative aorist. As a result of being saved we are stamped with a seal. The passive voice: the believer at the moment he is saved doesn’t earn or deserve or work for this. The indicative mood is used to indicate both the reality and the main verb for all the aorist participles.

 

            The isagogics of a seal

            1. In the ancient world a seal was a guarantee of transaction. Whenever a transaction was to be solemnised the individuals involved wearing rings with their crests or their signatures would put wax in the bottom of the scroll and then stamp the soft wax with the signet ring. Sealing is used for stamping a signature on something with a ring. That indicates eternal security. God the Holy Spirit does the stamping and that indicates that we have salvation forever.

            2. It refers to identification of ownership. Seals were often put on things to indicate who owned it. God the Holy Spirit seals us at the moment of faith in Christ to indicate that God owns that believer forever.

            3. Sealing is used for the authentication of invoices, contracts, laws, directives, and orders. This is analogous to the doctrine of divine decrees or the plan of God formulated for us in eternity past.

            4. The preservation of tombs, libraries and treasuries was handled by the sealing of a king or someone who had great power. Again, this connotes the preservation of doctrine in the right lobe in the ECS.

            5. The ratification of treaties. The sealing ministry of God the Holy Spirit is related to the super-grace life which is the expression between the believer and God. There is perfect peace because of His provision in salvation.

           

            “with that holy Spirit of promise” — incorrect. It is “by means of the Spirit of promise.” Then we have “by means of the Holy Spirit” in the text, or “by means of the Spirit of promise, by means of the holy one.” This is the literal translation.

            Translation: “In whom [Christ] you also having heard the expression of the doctrine, the good news of your salvation: in whom having believed, you have been stamped with a seal by means of the Spirit of promise, by means of the holy one [Spirit].”

            Verse 14 — presents the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life. This is a part of the proqesij of God the Father. “Which is” is the relative pronoun o(j referring to the Holy Spirit. Since pneuma is a neuter noun and it is used for the Holy Spirit the relative pronoun in also in the neuter, but since it refers the a person we translate it “who is.” God the Holy Spirit is the antecedent of the relative pronoun.

            “the earnest” — nominative singular from the noun a)rabbon. The word is derived from a Hebrew word, erabon, and it is used in three ways: first installment, deposit, down payment. In that sense it becomes a monetary pledge. So God the Holy Spirit is a down payment. There is no definite article. The absence of the definite article calls attention to the quality of the down payment. The Holy Spirit is the down payment for phase two and for phase three. He is the down payment for phase two because He indwells every believer. He is a down payment for phase three because He is the one who provides for us the regeneration which reaches its peak in the resurrection body. God the Holy Spirit has a ministry in the resurrection body. The money must be put in deposit and God the Holy Spirit is not only the one who seals us but He is also a down payment. Therefore the down payment on the plan of God is the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. This is the Father’s pledge that we are in His plan.

 

            The doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit

            1. We have the fact of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age presented in Romans 8:9; Galatians 3:2; 4:6; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

            2. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is called both unction — 1 John 2:20 — and anointing — 1 John 2:27.

            3. The prophecy of the indwelling of the Spirit in the Church Age is found in John 7:37-39; 14:16,17.

            4. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit must be distinguished from the indwelling of Christ. In the Church Age every believer is indwelt by Jesus Christ, every believer is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. Christ indwells the believer for the purpose of fellowship — Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer for the purpose of function. He makes the Christian life function in the believer’s life. Maximum fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ comes through the ECS and the super-grace life — Ephesians 3:17.

            5. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit must be distinguished from the filling of the Spirit. The indwelling occurs at the point of salvation and never changes. Filling is commanded — Ephesians 5:18, and lost through carnality — Ephesians 4:30. But whether the believer loses the filling of the Spirit or not he never loses the indwelling.

            6. The function of the Holy Spirit under GAP is found in John 14:26; 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27. This is the comprehension of doctrine, exhaling of doctrine, the cycling of doctrine, building the ECS with doctrine, the believer functioning under the super-grace life in doctrine.

            7. The universal indwelling of the Spirit is necessary because of the intensification of the angelic conflict — John 7:37-39.

 

            “of our inheritance” — the genitive singular from klhronomia. This is a genitive of possession. Therefore since God the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, regardless of the status on indwelling, the believer has an inheritance from God forever.

            “until the redemption” is incorrect. It is e)ij plus the accusative a)polutrwsij which means the completed job of ransoming or payment and it should be translated “because of redemption.” This refers to phase three.   Redemption of the body is receiving a resurrection body. This is actually the believer receiving a resurrection body in phase three. Redemption of the soul occurs at the point of believing.

            “of the purchased possession” — or, “the redemption of the property.” The word is peripoihsij and it refers to property here — “because of the redemption of the property.” The believer is God’s property. And this is going to result in something …

            “unto the praise” — e)ij plus the accusative, and this time it is directional, “toward the praise,” e)painoj which is super praise actually.

            Verse 15 — the first of two apostolic prayers. This apostolic prayer is for the dynamics of the proqesij. Here we have the good news from Asia. Paul has been teaching now for about 25 years and every now and then he hears about someone profiting from his ministry.

            “Wherefore” is dia plus the accusative of the demonstrative pronoun o(utoj which refers to something which has immediately preceded. It should be translated “Because of this.” That is, because of the function of the Trinity in the proqesij — which means a predesigned plan.

            “I also” — kai plus e)gw. E)gw is the first person singular personal pronoun and with kai it is put together as kagw. Paul doesn’t apologise for using the word “I.” He knows that he is alive!

            “after” is not found in the original, it is a clumsy attempt to translate an aorist participle. The modern usage always uses the word “having” to translate the aorist participle.

            “I heard” is an aorist active participle of a)kouw — “having heard.” The aorist tense is a constative aorist. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb, the main verb is “cease not.”

            “of your faith” — the preposition kata plus the accusative of pistij means “about your faith.” Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ indicates they are trusting the Lord for blessing, for everything in life.

            “and love” — the accusative singular of a)gaph which means a relaxed mental attitude, and this means that the believers in the Roman province of Asia have started to construct the ECS. Because of this and because there are so many of them it has become a source of great encouragement to Paul.

            “unto all the saints” — should be “toward all the saints.” This in itself is a source of great encouragement: the thought that all kinds of personalities can live in the same geographical area and have a relaxed mental attitude toward each other. What Paul is describing is something that is a fantastic blessing, it is a place where anyone would want to be regardless of the weather or any other set of circumstances, the place where RMAs exist.

            What does he mean, “love toward all the saints”? A)gaph is a mental attitude love. It is directed in this case toward other believers called “saints.” It means no mental attitude sins toward other believers in their periphery. It also means recognition of privacy of other believers. It means, when necessary, friendliness toward other believers, courtesy, and + doctrine — constant intake. It also means respect for other people, and that means that you do not have to agree or disagree, that you have to make any kind of an overt showing. It means that you give other people the benefit of the doubt at all times.

            The word for “all” is the accusative plural of paj plus a(gioj. The preposition e)ij is directional. It means that inevitably when a local church comes together people are going to be together. And being together means that in order for everyone to be blessed and for everyone to focus on the proper issue there must be courtesy, privacy, respect, etc. There must be a completely relaxed atmosphere so that people can take in Bible doctrine. God has provided equipment whereby no matter how different the personality the people are still saints.

            Translation: “Because of this, I also when I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love toward all the saints.”

            Verse 16 — here we have our main verb. Here is the proqesij takes cognisance of prayer and we have a stimulation to prayer.

            “Cease not” — the present middle indicative of pauw which, plus the negative, means “I do not cease.”

            “to give thanks” — this is the present active participle of e)uxaristew. It means to make a matter of thanksgiving.

            “for you” is the preposition u(per plus the pronoun, and should be translated “on behalf of.”

            “making mention” — the present middle participle from poiew which means to do, to produce, to work. The present tense is iterative present. When he thinks of them he prays for them. The middle voice emphasises the agent. Paul. doing the work. Plus the accusative singular of mneia. It means “producing memory.” The words “of you” are not found in the original.

            “in my prayers” — the preposition e)pi plus the genitive plural of proseuxh means “by my prayers.” The preposition e)pi plus the genitive always emphasises contact. You can contact people who are thousands of miles away by prayer. Making memory under these conditions is prayer. What do you pray for when you love someone? Paul prayed that they would keep on GAPing. They can only be benefited by the daily function of GAP.

            Verse 17 — “That” is i(na plus the optative, a most unusual purpose clause. I(na for a purpose clause always takes the subjunctive mood, but here it is i(na plus the optative because it is a prayer.  

            “the God” — o( qeoj refers to God the Father who is the author of the proqesij, the predesigned plan. In his prayer he recognises each phase of the Father’s plan. Phase one: “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ” referring to Jesus Christ as the executor of phase one of the plan of God. This is the way by which all of us enter the plan of God, we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. “Lord” is deity; “Jesus: in humanity; “Christ” is divine commission. Christ merely means “anointed” and in the ancient world they didn’t give you a commission on paper, they put oil on your head.

            “the Father of glory” — o( pathr thj dochj. The genitive of possession of doca. This indicates the purpose of phase two — glory.

 

            The doctrine of glory

            1. Glory is used for the essence of God. Many times when glory appears in the scripture it refers to who and what God is. Romans 3:23 — sin is failure to measure up to the character of God; Ephesians 1:17; Deuteronomy 5:24; Psalm 21:5.

            2. Glory is also used for the edification complex of the soul [ECS] — Ephesians 3:21; Colossians 1:27; 1 Peter 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:14.

            3. The right woman is the glory of the right man — 1 Corinthians 11:7, 15.

            4. The grace of God is described as glory — Ephesians 1:6.

            5. The provision of God’s grace is called “the riches of glory” — Ephesians 3:16; 1:18; Philippians 4:19.

            6. Heaven and eternal life are described as glory in 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:10; 1 Peter 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3.

            7. Human glamour is described as glory in 1 Peter 1:24; Philippians 3:19.

            8. Glory is used to describe the wonders of the universe — 1 Corinthians 15:40,41.

            9 Glory is used to describe the resurrection body of the believer — 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Thessalonians 2:14.

            10. Glory is related to the angelic conflict. It is associated with operation footstool and the presentation of the Church as the bride of Christ at the second advent — Hebrews 2:10.

 

            “may give” — the petition for GAP, the aorist active optative from the common verb for giving, didomi. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action in its entirety, it takes an appearance and regardless of the extent or the duration gathers it into a single whole. GAPing it today, the next, the next, the next.… The active voice: the Father of glory in His matchless grace provides all of the ingredients for the function of GAP, the transfer of GAP from the mind of Christ to the page of the canon to the soul of the believer. The optative mood: it is the mood of strong contingency, the mood of possibility. It is used here to indicate the prayer. Generally the optative contains no anticipation of realisation but only presents an action as conceivable as desirable. It is one step further removed from reality than the subjunctive is and this is called the voluntative optative which is used to express a desire in prayer.

            “unto you” — dative plural of advantage; “the spirit” — referring here to the human spirit; “of wisdom” — the possessive genitive of sofia. This refers to the accumulation of e)pignwsij Bible doctrine in the human spirit under the daily function of GAP. That is when doctrine begins to be usable. The absence of the definite article calls attention to the quality of the noun rather than its identity. The quality here is Bible doctrine in the soul.

            “and revelation” — the ascensive use of kai plus the ablative singular of a)pokaluyij which means “from the source of the revelation.”

            “in the knowledge” — e)n plus the instrumental of e)pignwsij which is “by means of e)pignwsij.

            “of him” — the ablative singular of a)utoj means “from the source of him [God the Father].”

            Translation: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom, even from the source of revelation by means of [e)pignwsij] knowledge from the source of him.”

            Verse 18 — The word “eyes,” o)fqalmoj, is an accusative which introduces an anacoluthon in this prayer. An anacoluthon is a grammatical change of construction in the middle of a sentence. This sentence is a prayer, the eyes here are used in the sense of perception.

            “of your understanding” — the Greek says “the eyes of your heart,” thj kardiaj u(mwn. Kardia here refers to the right lobe. The objective of Bible doctrine is to reach your right lobe; “being enlightened,” the perfect passive participle of fwtizw which means to be enlightened. In other words, to have doctrine photographed in your soul. The perfect tense emphasises the permanent results of having doctrine in your frame of reference, in your memory centre, in your vocabulary and categorical area, in your norms and standards, and in your launching pad. The passive voice: the subject, the believer, receives the action of the verb. The eyes of the right lobe receive doctrine through the function of GAP. The participle sets up a permanent law of God whereby doctrine recorded permanently in the scriptures is transferred into your right lobe through the function of GAP — “having become enlightened.”

            “that ye may know” — e)ij plus the perfect active infinitive of o)ida, “for the purpose that you all may have permanent knowledge.” Permanent knowledge means that this doctrine is permanent which is permanent becomes permanent when it is in the right lobe. The only way doctrine can be permanent in your right lobe is for you to enter the super-grace bracket and stay there.

            “knowing what is the hope” — ‘what is’ is the interrogative pronoun tij plus the present active of e)imi, what keeps on being. The interrogative pronoun indicates the content of the plan of God for your life; ‘the hope,’ o( elpij, refers to all doctrine in phase three. Hope is a bad translation due to the fact that hope has come to mean uncertainty. E)lpij in the Greek does not connote any uncertainty at all — “what is the confidence.”

            “of his calling” — klhsij indicates the plan of God for phase three. You have two futures in your life. When you accept Christ as saviour you enter phase two of the plan of God, the believer in time. Phase one is salvation, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Phase two starts one second after you are saved and continues until you die, or the Rapture, whichever occurs first in your life. Your immediate future is the time you have left in phase two. For the moment we go to a technical word, e)lpij, which refers to your distant future, the future beyond the moment that you leave this world. The word means to have complete confidence beyond the grave. The confidence comes from understanding the doctrine of phase three now, not when we get to heaven. If you are ever going to have confidence in time it must be anchored to something which is infinite, something that is absolute, where there are no shades of grey, no basis for rationalisation. It is an absolute fact that your distant future includes perfect happiness, perfect environment, perfect conditions forever and ever. It is also a fact that the unbeliever’s distant future is one of the most excruciating agonies perpetuated forever without cessation. “The confidence of his calling.” It is His calling, not yours.”

            “and what the riches of the glory” — the word ‘and’ is not there. We have instead “riches from the source of the glory,” an ablative of source, doca.

            “of his inheritance” — genitive of description, klhronomia is the noun. Riches indicates unlimited resources.

 

            The doctrine of inheritance (heirship)

            1. As the victor in the angelic conflict and as a part of the doctrine of divine decrees Jesus Christ is the heir of all things — Hebrews 1:2.

            2. Heirship is based on sonship. This is why Christ is called the Son of God. His title indicates that He is the heir of God the Father, as well as the focal point of the doctrine of divine decrees. John 1:12; Romans 8:16,17; Galatians 3:26. This is why to be heirs of God we have to become sons of God.

            3. Heirship is also based on the death of another — Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4.

            4. To inherit from God one must also possess the life of God — Titus 3:7; 1 John 5:11,12.

            5. Therefore salvation is the qualification for joint inheritance — Colossians 1:12.

            6. Heirship is related to the doctrine of divine decrees in the sense of sharing the destiny of Christ — Ephesians 1:11.

            7. Heirship is also related to the doctrine of election since the joint heirs share the election of Christ — Hebrews 9:15.

            8. The principle of our inheritance is related to the eternal security of the believer — 1 Peter 1:4,5.

            9. Our heritage is provided on the basis if grace — Galatians 3:29.

            10. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the down payment of our heritage — Ephesians 1:14.

            11. Our heritage is located in the sphere of sainthood — Ephesians 1:18.

 

            “in the saints” — the preposition e)n plus the locative of a(gioj, ‘in the sphere of the saints.’ In other words, you cannot be an heir unless you are a saint. You can’t be a saint unless you believe in Christ. The word ‘saint’ means set apart. You become a saint the moment you believe in Christ and the word saint applies to all believers.

            Translation: “The eyes of your right lobe having been enlightened for the purpose that you all may have permanent knowledge; knowing what is the hope of his calling, what is the riches from the source of the glory of his inheritance in the sphere of the saints.”

 

          The doctrine of GAP

            1. GAP means grace apparatus for perception. Perception means to understand, to know, to be cognisant of doctrine. This is a system of grace inculcation. Therefore we must first of all recognise a fact: no two of us have the same amount of perspicacity, humanly speaking. Spiritual; IQ is the amount of Bible doctrine stored in the human spirit and in the right lobe. It’s stored under the noun in the Hebrew, chakmah, and by the Greek word e)pignwsij. The distinction between human and spiritual IQ is the subject of 1 Corinthians chapter two.

            2. Human IQ is never a factor in the function of GAP — other wise God would be unfair. In other words, low IQ is never a handicap in learning doctrine. For this reason every believer in the Church Age has received all the grace help necessary:  a) The indwelling of the Holy Spirit; b) The activation of the human spirit at the point of salvation; c) A right pastor-teacher to communicate Bible doctrine.

            3. The perceptive lobe, the left lobe, is called the mentality of the soul — nouj. It is generally translated “mind.” The left lobe is the process area for all types of knowledge, whether it is doctrine or any form of human knowledge. In our study of GAP it is the staging area for Bible doctrine. It is also area for all types of knowledge. This lobe is where you first hear doctrine. Remember that gnwsij means to understand or to record in your left lobe what is taught. It doesn’t mean you agree or disagree. It doesn’t mean anything except objective understanding. It is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to take what is taught and make it objective information in your left lobe. You don’t have to agree or disagree, you simply understand it. The danger is to let it hang there. Any doctrine that you understand and hangs in your left lobe can never be applied. Doctrine must be on the launching pad and the question is, how does it get there?

            Volition must go into action with regard to this doctrine. Getting doctrine from the left to the right lobe is accomplished by positive volition [pistij, faith] which transfers that doctrine out of the left lobe and into the human spirit as e)pignwsij. But there must be doctrine in the frame of reference, and the doctrine in the frame of reference acts as a vacuum and sucks doctrine from the human spirit into the right lobe. The vacuum pump is constructed on the basis of doctrine. You build doctrine on doctrine, that is why you have to learn basic doctrines first. Once you get basic doctrine in the right lobe then the primer starts the vacuum pump, and the vacuum pump pulls the e)pignwsij into the right lobe. It only pulls up into the right lobe that for which you have a frame of reference. Once it does that, then it goes into your vocabulary. Then from vocabulary you begin to get concepts or categories, and your norms and standards begin to change and they comply with divine norms and standards. All of these feed into the launching pad and that is where you become a doer of the Word. A doer of the Word isn’t a worker, a doer of the Word is a believer with doctrine in the launching pad.

            4. Therefore the grace provision for learning Bible doctrine.

                        a) The formation and the preservation of the canon of scripture. That takes up the doctrine of canonicity and the doctrine of inspiration.

                        b) A classroom for learning doctrine. The classroom is called the local church. The local church was not designed for raising money, strawberry festivals, and fellowship. The local church was designed to be a classroom, with one teacher and with students without portfolio.

                        c) The spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. This is a divinely authorised communicator, and there never was and there never will be a pastor who earned or deserved the right to speak. This gift is sovereignly bestowed to many different types of males. No woman ever had the gift and never will have, the pulpit belongs to certain born-again males.

                        d) The priesthood of the believer for privacy and reception. If you are really going to take in doctrine on an objective basis you must have privacy of the priesthood to do it.

                        e) The indwelling of the Holy Spirit for the function of GAP — 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27. However, the believer must be filled with the Spirit for this to occur — Ephesians 5:18.

                        f) Grace provision for the filling of the Spirit through the rebound technique.

                        g) The human spirit as the first target for GAP — Job 32:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12.

                        h) The provision of the divine laws of establishment whereby the nation protects the freedom and the privacy of the local church.

                        i) The anatomy of grace whereby certain non-meritorious functions of the body make it possible to think and to concentrate.

 

            Verse 19 — “And” is a continuative kai, plus the interrogative pronoun ti, translated “what.”      “the exceeding greatness” — present active participle of u(perballw which means here, “surpassing.” Every now and then the apostle Paul shows us that he had a phenomenal education. It is fitting that the greatest super-grace believer of all time in the field of Bible doctrine should have one of the most extensive and unusual vocabularies of anyone who has ever lived. What he lacked in vocabulary he coined words. Many words demonstrate a phenomenal academic background. The word for “greatness” is an Attic Greek word an entirely different language, the language of the fifth century BC — megeqoj which means “magnitude.” It is not meant here in the sense of size or stature, it is used in the sense of greatness in quality. “And what the surpassing magnitude.” Magnitude is speaking about God. We are talking about God’s plan.

            “of his power” — the genitive of dunamij referring to the inherent power of God. The plan of God depends upon His inherent power, upon the character of God. The plan of God can be no greater than the character of God. Since the character of God is perfect the plan of God is perfect. Since the power of God is of unlimited magnitude the potentialities in the plan of God where your life is concerned are totally unlimited. The omnipotence is God’s ability to provide unlimited grace. Unlimited grace takes the believer into the realm of super-grace where God can give him all of the things that He desires to give him.

            “to us-ward” — the prepositional phrase indicates this applies to you. God has a purpose for our lives. God wants to share His happiness, He wants to give to us. Grace demands that God does the giving and that we do the receiving. However, we are poor receivers until we reach super-grace. We have to have capacity to be a receiver. We have the preposition e)ij plus the accusative plural of the preposition e)gw.

            “who” is not found in the original manuscript. Instead there is a present active participle from pisteuw which should be translated “the believing ones.” If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you are in the plan of God. The accusative plural of the participle is in apposition to the object of the preposition. Literally we have, “And what the surpassing magnitude of his inherent power upon us the believing ones.” If we have not experienced what is related in this stage of the proqesij of God the reason for it is quite simple: rejection, indifference to Bible doctrine. “according to the working” is incorrect. Kata plus the accusative of e)nergeia the second word for power in this passage means “according to the operational power.” God not only conceived of the plan but God has the ability to put the plan into operation. In the plan of God the operational power is generally associated with the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit. He is the one who makes GAP function whereby we have the capacity to receive things from God.

            “of his mighty power” — the genitive singular of kratoj which means “controlling power, ruling power.” But that doesn’t handle the word “power” in this phrase, the genitive singular of i)sxuj means “endowed power” or power as a faculty. Kratoj refers to doctrine in the canon of scripture. The Bible is the ruler. I)sxuj refers to doctrine in the right lobe. Doctrine is the function of the super-grace life.  

 

            Summary

            There are four words for power in this passage.

                        a) Dunamij which refers to the inherent power of God. It refers to the ability of God as it existed in eternity past as a part of His plan.

                        b) E)nergeia refers to the operational power of God. God has the ability to put His plan into operation, excluding your ability, your talent, your thoughts, your plans, your strength, whatever it may be. E)nergeia is totally opposed to any form of legalism.

                        c) Kratoj is ruling power, Bible doctrine resident in the canon of scripture. It must be transferred and become endowed power.

                        d) I)sxuj is endowed power, Bible doctrine in the soul of the believer.

 

            Translation: “And what the surpassing magnitude of his omnipotence [inherent power] upon us, the believing ones, according to the norm of the operational power of the ruling power of his inner power.”

            This type of verse is a verse of great assurance. It says a number of things: a) That all believers are in the plan of God; b) God’s plan is not something cooked up for the moment, it has existed in eternity past. Not only has God’s plan existed but the provision existed in eternity past.

            Verse 20 — “Which” is a relative pronoun, o(j, and the antecedent refers to operational power — e)nergeia. “he wrought” — perfect active indicative of the verb e)nergew, “had been operational.” The perfect tense: had been operational in eternity past. The active voice: the power was operational. The indicative mood is the reality of this operational power always existing.

            “in Christ” is a locative plus the definite article and should be translated “in the Christ.” The whole plan of God centres in the person of Christ. The Father planned it, the Son executed it, the Spirit provides the energy for it.

            “when” is not found in the original manuscript. It is really an old-time device for translating an aorist participle, a bad one. Aorist participles should be translated by the word “having.” So “when he raised” should be translated “having raised him.” The aorist active participle is from e)geirw and it refers to that which was absolutely necessary historically for the plan of God to reach its present operational function. E)geirw refers to the resurrection. Were it not for the resurrection of Jesus Christ we would not have the blessings of super-grace tomorrow. There would be no plan of God had there not been at one point in history the resurrection.

            “from the dead” — e)k plus the ablative of nekroj, “is out from the source of the dead.” Nekroj indicates that Jesus Christ truly died. No resurrection, no super-grace blessing.

 

 

 

            The doctrine of resurrection

            1. The fact of resurrection is based upon the existence of the empty tomb, the competency of the witnesses. They knew Jesus Christ well and could not be deceived. They would die rather than change their testimony about the resurrection. This is historical accuracy and competency of witnesses. The subsequent change in the disciples after the resurrection also indicates the validity of the resurrection. Before His death they were afraid, despondent, and after His death the same thing continued. But after His resurrection they were joyous and fearless. The existence of the day of Pentecost and the first sermon ever preached in the Church Age was a sermon on resurrection. The observation of the first day of the week, called the Lord’s day, the resurrection day. The very existence of the Christian church logically depends upon the resurrection.

            2. The nature of the resurrection. Jesus Christ in His resurrection body still had the scars from the nail prints in His hands and feet — Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 12:10; John 20:25-29. He also retained the scars of the wound in His side — John 20:25-29. Christ was recognised by His disciples as the one who died and rose again. This was attested in 17 different appearances. Christ after resurrection, however, could eat — Luke 24:42.23 — although He did not depend upon food to sustain Him. Christ had a true body which could be felt — Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:39; John 20:17. His resurrection body could breathe — John 20:22. His resurrection body possessed flesh and bones — Luke 24:39,40. His resurrection body could walk through an open door but could also walk through a closed door — Luke 24:36; John 20:19. Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples many times during the short time he was on the earth after the resurrection. He also disappeared at will — Luke 24:17. His body could move horizontally or vertically.

            3. The doctrine of the two resurrections is pertinent and important to us. There are two resurrections, not one — John 5:24-29; Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:6,13. The first resurrection involves the Lord Jesus Christ and believers only. Confusion seems to come from the fact that the first resurrection is divided into four parts. This is comparable to a battalion review in 1 Corinthians 15 — “every man in his own battalion”:

                        a) The resurrection of Jesus Christ, the firstfruits. He is resurrected and seated at the right hand of the Father — 1 Corinthians 15:23; Romans 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Peter 1:3.

                        b) Baker company is the Rapture of the Church — 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

                        c) Charlie company is the Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs. They are resurrected at the end of the Tribulation — Daniel 12:13; Isaiah 26:19,20; Revelation 20:4.

                        d) Dog company is made up of the Millennial saints and those who survive the Tribulation to enter the Millennium in physical bodies.

            This is the general first resurrection.

            The second resurrection all occurs at one time — John 5:28,29; Revelation 20:12-15; 2 Peter 3:9; Matthew 25:41 — at the end of the Millennium.

            4. Living illustrations of the resurrection.

                        a) Abraham in a tent — Hebrews 11:9,10,13. To live in a tent in Abraham’s day was to invite disaster, it was not safe. The secret to Abraham’s tent life came from the fact that he trusted in the Lord. he had trusted in Christ for salvation, he had trusted the promises of God, but he also believed in the doctrine of God. Therefore he died in a tent knowing that God who had promised him a city would deliver that city. he knew that he would receive in resurrection. So the resurrection was vitally important to Abraham. The resurrection was a doctrine on which he built his whole life. Abraham was just as safe in a tent as you are in the greatest fortified system which ever existed. Abraham’s protection was Bible doctrine, specifically resurrection. The reason he died in a tent is because he said “God has promised me a city, so I will live in a tent until God gives me the city which he promised me.” The city that God promised Abraham will come, it is the new Jerusalem. He died in the tent without seeing the promise fulfilled in this life — Hebrews 11:13 — but he knew that in resurrection he would have his city — Revelation 21:2,10.

                        b) Isaac understood the concept of resurrection — Hebrews 11:17-19. Isaac was the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 12:2. In Isaac Abraham’s seed was to be multiplied into a great nation. Yet, in Genesis 22 God ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. But Abraham, again, had faith in resurrection and in Hebrews 11:17-19 he put Isaac on an altar and was going to sacrifice him knowing that God would raise Isaac from the dead. Isaac hadn’t found his right woman yet, he didn’t have a family. Therefore when Abraham put his son on the altar he knew that God would raise him right up again. To Abraham the most vital doctrine in the world was resurrection.

                        c) The same thing was true of Job — “I know that my redeemer liveth, and he shall stand in the latter day [resurrection]… yet in my flesh [resurrection] I shall see God.”

                        d) Joseph was a super-grace believer — Hebrews 11:22. The life of Joseph was filled with many acts of faith-rest, he demonstrated the function of super-grace. God prospered Joseph under the super-grace principle. Yet, when Joseph came to the time to die he did something greater than he had done in all of his lifetime. He commanded that he not be buried in Egypt but that his coffin be taken in the future and when the Jews returned to the land they must take the coffin with them. They must take Joseph’s bones because of the doctrine of resurrection. When Joseph was risen from the dead he wanted to be standing by his great grandfather Abraham, by his grandfather Isaac, by his father Jacob. And in the resurrection he will stand with them because he refused to be buried in Egypt. But that isn’t all. The Jews were slaves for 400 years and during those 400 years their hope of getting out of slavery was the coffin of Joseph. Joseph therefore demonstrates the importance of the resurrection as a doctrine to the super-grace believer. The coffin of Joseph — Genesis 50:24-26; Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32.

                        e) There are two boys who died and both were brought to life by Elijah. They represent the beautiful illustration. The son of the widow of Zerapheth — 1 Kings 17:17-23; the son of the Shunammite woman — 2 Kings 4:18-36. These two incidents are exactly parallel. In each case a boy died. In each case a prophet — first Elijah, second Elisha — identified himself with the boy by stretching himself out over the dead person. Why? These prophets understood the doctrine of resurrection. To demonstrate their faith in the God of resurrection that He would also resuscitate these prophets did exactly the same thing. They stretched themselves out over the corpse and in each case the corpse came back to life. This again gives a picture of resurrection in the principle of identification or association.

 

            “and set him” — the aorist active participle of kaqizw is “and having seated.” This refers to ascension of Jesus Christ and His session at the right hand.

            “in the heavenly places” — literally “in the heavenlies.”

                        Translation: “Which [power] had been operational in Christ, having raised him up from the dead, and having seated him at his own right hand in the heavenlies.”

            Verse 21 — “Far above” is an adverbial preposition, u(peranw which with the ablative of comparison, paj, means “Over above.” It should be translated “Over above all.” The word “ablative” itself is taken from the Latin. It means “separated.” Here is the ablative of comparison which implies separation in degree. When it says that Jesus Christ is over above all and you have the ablative used it refers to some category which Jesus Christ is separate from and totally superior to. It refers to all categories of fallen angels. This is the story of Hebrews chapters one and two. So by using an adverbial preposition, u(peranw, and having the ablative of paj as the object of the preposition it means that Jesus Christ is separated and totally superior to all fallen angels.

            “principalities” — the ablative of comparison from a)rxh. It refers here to the super demons or the leaders among the fallen angels. There is no equality in the angelic realm even as there is no equality in the human realm. The humanity of Christ at the right hand of the Father, as per the previous verse, is superior to all super demon leaders. In other words, the next two verses of this chapter say in effect that the proqesij, the plan of God the Father, takes congisance of the angelic conflict; and God the Father planned it, the Son executed it. Jesus Christ as a member of the human race seated at the right hand of the Father in His resurrection body is superior to all the fallen angels put together, and not only superior to them but separate in every way.

            “and power” — the ablative of e)cousia which refers to the commissioned officers among the demons. This will be used in that sense once again in Ephesians 6:12.

            “and might” also describes fallen angels — the ablative of dunamij refers to the inherent power in angels. The inherent power of demons means that they have fantastic abilities which are greater than anything in the human race.

            “and dominion” — the ablative of kuriothj, used here for a special class of fallen angels or demons who are distinguished by exercising great authority. These are probably the demons who indwell the world rulers and influence their decisions and thinking with regard to Satanic strategy.

            “and every name” — the ablative singular of paj plus the ablative singular of o)noma which generally means personality, here it refers to the rank and file demons.

            “Over above all super demons, and commissioned demons, and gifted demons, and ruling demons, and all rank and file demons.”

            “that is named” is the present passive participle of o)nomazw which means here to have a reputation — “who has a reputation.” Every demon who has a reputation of any kind. The present passive participle means during the course of angelic history they have received a reputation.

            “not only in this world” is correctly translated “not only in this age,” the Church Age.

            “but also in the one about to come,” literally, which is the Millennium. It refers actually to the Tribulation, second advent and the revolution at the end of the Millennium.

            Literal translation: “Over above all principality, and authority, and power, and lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one about to come.”

            But the interpretive translation is: “Over above all super demons, and commissioned demons, and gifted demons, and ruling demons, and all rank and file demons who have a reputation, not only in this Church Age but also in the dispensation about to come.”

            In other words, in verse 21 the proqesij or plan of God takes cognisance of the intensification of the angelic conflict, beginning in the Church Age. The angelic conflict takes a very strange turn in the Tribulation. The intensification of the angelic conflict begins in the Church Age, continues into the Tribulation, reaches its climax in the second advent and operation footstool, and terminates with an anticlimax, a demon revolution at the end of the Millennium.

 

            The doctrine of the angelic conflict

            1. Many of the problems which disturb believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, many problems which appear to have no answer, are actually related to the angelic conflict. Many things which cannot be explained in terms of human activity are actually related to angelic activity. For example, the question is often asked: Why are we here? Why is man created? Why does man live on the earth? The reason we are here is to resolve the angelic conflict. That is a part of glorifying God. The angelic conflict is a revolt against God, and God is going to win it. The way He is going to win it is to create something lower than angels, weaker than angels, dumber than angels, and use that to win it. The fact that they do exist is verified by Psalm 8:4,5; Hebrews 2:6,7; 2 Peter 2:11. They are created beings — Psalm 148:2-5.

            There are two general categories of these unseen creatures: a) Saved or elect. They are called “holy” in Mark 8:38, and “elect” in 1 Timothy 5:21. They are a category of angels who will live with God forever, they are          saved and they will never get into the lake of fire; b) The unsaved angels which fall into two categories. One category is in prison right now because they were all involved in the Genesis 6:1-9 fiasco, as explained by 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6. They are now in what is called Tartarus and there they are going to stay for a long time. The other category are the operative angels, i.e. demons — Mark 5; 1 Corinthians 10:20,21. Their doctrines are mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:1.

            2. The point that is most important in the angelic conflict is the fact that all unsaved angels are sentence to the lake of fire forever and ever — Matthew 25:41 tells us that the lake if fire was created for this crowd.

            3. During the course of human history we have the sentence under appeal. In eternity past God sentenced all angels to the lake of fire. However, Satan appealed the case and the course of human history is the period when the case is under appeal. The case will receive its final decision at the end of human history. So no angels at the present time are in the lake of fire. Except for the ones incarcerated the demons are all loose to day and they are definitely permitted under God to make certain attacks upon the human race because it is the volition of the human race that actually resolves the angelic conflict. It shows that Satan’s appeal is not valid.

            Satan, as the chief of the unsaved angels, appealed the case at the time of the sentence to the lake of fire. In objecting to the sentence Satan made his appeal by impugning the character of God. He said the judge, God, was not fair. He said that the judge was inconsistent, and he also indicated that the judge was supposed to be love, and how can a loving God throw His creatures into the lake of fire? So in every way he impugned the character of God.

            We know that Satan is the lawyer for the appeal because his Greek name is diaboloj. It means adversary, enemy, or slanderer. It also means a lawyer who takes the case. The same thing is true of Shatan (Hebrew) which means devil, enemy, adversary, so devil means a lawyer who has appealed the case. He is the enemy of God.

            It is simple to see how all this worked out, it is a simple deduction based on elapse of time between the passing of the sentence before human history and the execution of the sentence at the end of human history.

            The answer to this objection by Satan is found in the character of God in His essence box. God is not just love. God is sovereignty, absolute righteousness and justice; His love must be consistent with these. God cannot ignore the other characteristics, He is immutable. God has to be consistent. He .loves His creature but just because he loves them He still has to be fair, He has to be righteous and He has to be just. Because all of the fallen angels went along with Satan righteousness demands that God separate from them; justice demands that he sentence them. So the fallen angels are all talking about the love of God and ignoring the righteousness and justice of God. They are looking for God to be unfair for the first time and of God is unfair even once in all of human history, since human history is the appeal of the case, then Satan has won his case. But God throughout all of human history, and in dealing with billions and billions of people, has never been unfair even once, and having been consistent and being consistent throughout the entire course of human history the fallen angels are going to end up in the lake of fire. This is because God has never been unfair, unrighteous, unjust; He has always been consistent.

            In order to demonstrate His fairness and His consistency in the human race there must be an issue — a big issue and a lot of subsidiary issues. The big issue is salvation, and from this come the subsidiary issues like after salvation, super-grace versus reversionism, carnality versus spirituality.

            4. The pattern of angelic negative volition is expressed in two ways. Satan’s original sin of negative volition really gives the pattern. Isaiah 14:12-14. The angels also who took his side also reject God’s plan, whatever God’s plan called for.

            5. The creation of man resolves the angelic conflict and answers Satan’s appeal. To resolve the angelic conflict an inferior creature, mankind, is placed on one planet possessing one thing in common with these superior creatures: free will, the bona fide function of a creature volition — Psalm 8:3-5; Hebrews 2:7.

            6. Human volition is tested in exactly the same pattern as angelic volition. Angels began in innocence; mankind began in innocence. Angels sinned — negative volition of Satan and those who followed him; mankind sins — negative volition of Adam. God provided salvation or some way for angels to remain intact, so that they didn’t have to go with Satan. Many didn’t which is why there are the elect angels. God provided salvation for mankind. So they angels are divided into two categories: elect and fallen; mankind is divided into two categories — John 3:18,16, 36. The ones who believe in Christ are eternally saved. The ones who reject Christ are lost.

            7. Two tests are instituted for man’s volition just as the same two types of status existed in angelic history — pre-human history. a) Innocence; b) Sinfulness. Innocence existed with free will but no sin nature. For the free will to be functioning and to have a test mankind is prohibited the use of one tree. That was the volitional test — Genesis 2:17. In the status of innocence man could only sin in one way — negative volition: eat of the forbidden tree. The penalty for going negative and eating of the forbidden truth was said to be death, but not physical death. In innocence there is no physical death — perfect environment. Man understood death as a penalty, as a condemnation, a judgment, and he understood it in its right context — separation from God. Adam died immediately when he ate of the forbidden fruit, but he was still alive and still breathing. Obviously it wasn’t physical death. He died spiritually. Christ died for our sins, but He didn’t die physically for our sins, He died spiritually for our sins. Romans 5:12; 6:23; Genesis 2:17 — spiritual death. The test in the garden was to parallel the test in the angelic realm, so we can only conclude that there was a similar test with the angels. Eventually all the angels were divided.

            Sinfulness: After the fall salvation is promises so that you can still have the issue. The devil thought he had won a round when man went negative and ate of the forbidden fruit, but immediately Christ come sin the garden, promises salvation through Himself and immediately volition faces an issue. And the first parents went positive and believed in Jesus Christ. Now the issue in the human race, from the time of Adam and Eve right down to the end of the Millennium, is “what think ye of Christ?” Salvation. Before Christ came historically He was portrayed in many ways: in animal sacrifices, etc. The issue right through is volition, the function of free will with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ.

            8. Man’s entrance into the plan of God through faith in Christ destroys the devil’s appeal, it resolves the angelic conflict. The issue: Will man, inferior to angels, equipped with the same free will as angels, choose for or against the plan of God — operation grace. The solution: If even one member of the human race in all of human history believes in the Lord Jesus Christ the angelic conflict is resolved — Hebrews 1:4-14; chapter 2; Colossians 2;14,15. Therefore the principle of operation footstool in Psalm 110:1; 1 Corinthians 15:54, 24 ,25. Also Hebrews 1:3 relates the work of Christ on the cross to man’s expression of non-meritorious volition.

            After the cross the next issue is this: Can God keep His character intact and bless you? There is the whole story of the super-grace life.

            For this reason we have angelic observation. Why? Angels learn through the conversion of members of the human race that the free will of man does not necessarily choose against God as each demon did. The fallen angels before human history have already done this, now they see in the unbeliever a repetition of their own negative volition. This explains also the rejoicing of elect angels over one unbeliever who changes his attitude toward Christ — Luke 15:7,10. By comparing Colossians 2:15 in the Greek with Revelation 19:6-8; Zechariah 13:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:13 it is concluded that the numbers of believers in the body of Christ will be equal to the number of demons operating under the command of Satan in the intensified stage of the angelic conflict. That is why the Church Age is going to last a long time.

            9. The results of the angelic conflict.

                        Phase one: salvation results. Regenerate mankind is positionally higher than angels because of his union with Christ — Hebrews 1:4-14.

                        Phase two: Through suffering, regenerate mankind uses doctrine to the point of celebrityship with Christ, occupation with Christ. The maximum use of the faith-rest technique in suffering produces occupation with Christ — Romans 5:2-4; 1 Peter 1:7.8. Also in phase two the blessing of the super-grace believer demonstrates the same thing. That is why the life of any believer who is worth his salt has alternate suffering and blessing.

                        Phase three: Regenerate mankind is going to be physically superior to angels because he is going to possess a resurrection body like that of Christ. In the resurrection and ascension Christ demonstrated the superiority of His resurrection body. We will have one like Him — Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:1,2; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57.

            10. Through the fall of man Satan gained control of the world but not necessarily control of mankind. This is because God instituted some divine laws. The laws of divine establishment began with human freedom. Human volition or free will makes man a free agent, and as a free agent in the devil’s world he can choose between the plan of God and the blessings that come from that plan or the plan of Satan and the things that Satan offers by way of bait. Salvation through faith in Christ frees mankind from Satan’s control — Galatians 5:1. After salvation the believer who GAPs it to super-grace learns the reality of this freedom. Until the second advent Satan will be the ruler of this world — 2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Ephesians 2:2.

            11. The doctrine of angelic observation. Angels are observing the human race. Angels observed the incarnate Christ during His incarnation — 1 Timothy 3:16. Elect angels observe and rejoice over the conversion of any member of the human race — Luke 15:7. Fallen angels are organised under Satan’s command to resist and oppose all believers — Job 1:6; 2:1,3; Ephesians 6:12. Angels are watching all the human race, and especially believers — 1 Corinthians 4:9; 6:3; 7:10; Ephesians 3:10; 1 Timothy 5:21; 1 Peter 1:12.  

            12. The angelic conflict, then, answers some basic questions about life. If you really want to understand what life is all about you have to understand why we are here. We are here to resolve the angelic conflict. We are here because Satan went to court and appealed the sentence passed upon the fallen angels. The sentence was the lake of fire forever and ever.

            Man has volition even as Satan had volition and the first question that is answered by the angelic conflict is, Why man? Man is here to glorify God. Inside of man’s soul is volition and that volition can operate once and that resolves the angelic conflict. If just one person in the history of the human race has believed in Jesus Christ that would be all that was necessary to prove God’s point. But over the course of human history millions and millions of people have believed in Christ. So the cross is the beginning of a series of victories whereby God demonstrates His point to the fallen angels. This reaches its peak under the super-grace concept. God keeps pouring and pouring, and this glorifies God.

            Another question is, Why sin? Sin resolves the issue of phase one in the plan of God. Man’s free will is the source of all sinfulness in the human race. Man was created without any sin. God is not the author of sin, God is not the creator of sin, God does not sponsor sin; but He did create in man something whereby man could choose to go into the hole deeper. Man did choose that and man becomes a sinner by an act of his own free will. Man’s free will created the old sin nature. God did not create the old sin nature, man did. At the cross all human sin is poured out upon Jesus Christ and judged, this removes the barrier between man and God and, at the same time, resolves the angelic conflict. So the fact that man went deeper into the hole does not in any way deter the angelic conflict, it merely shifts gears and goes into a new area.

            Suffering is another problem in the human race. The answer to the suffering problem is, again, God permits the believer to suffer for the purpose of blessing. That is why suffering is designed to catch the believer in super-grace, and while all the other blessings are being poured in the cup to pour in some suffering. And when that suffering is poured in the believer is still blessed. The only difference is his happiness isn’t over on the ecstatic side.

            The Church is also another question that often occurs. The Jewish Age is interrupted and we are now in the Church Age. The key to this is found in one of the angelic conflict passages — Colossians 2:10. Christ, the head of the Church, is absent from the earth as a part of operation footstool. So He has representation on the earth in the form of His body. Christ is the head of the Church, we are His body representing Him as ambassadors. We are a kingdom of priests, every believer is in full time Christian service and therefore the personal representative of Christ on the earth. So Christ appointed the Church as His full time representation.

            Why chaos on the earth? Satan is the ruler of this world and he cannot improve his own kingdom. Divine laws of establishment keeps the human race from entering into this chaos. Therefore Satan is very frustrated trying to improve his kingdom and show God that he has a right to stay out of the lake of fire. But he never gets around to improving it. All of the improvements come from God and not from Satan. Therefore chaos is related to the angelic conflict.

            There is the problem of spirituality, the filling of the Spirit. People often ask why it doesn’t have the characteristics that it will have in the Millennium where it will be associated with ecstatics. But there is no ecstatics related to the filling of the Spirit now. Why? The filling of the Spirit must be compatible with the absence of Jesus Christ from the earth. This is the whole concept of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age. Jesus Christ during the Church Age is at the right hand of the Father, and in His absence the ministry of God the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ. In the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ the filling of the Holy Spirit does exactly that. It produces in the believer certain things which glorify Christ. Jesus Christ is absent; Jesus Christ must be glorified, therefore the whole ministry of the Holy Spirit is to bring doctrine from the page of the Word of God into the soul of the individual though GAP and for the individual to manifest some of the characteristics of Jesus Christ. Therefore neither emotion nor ecstatics are involved. The filling of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ and it is minus emotion, ecstatics. But in the millennium Jesus Christ is going to be present and the filling of the Spirit will change then to reflect that. Since Christ is present the objective is to worship Christ or to love Christ in the filling of the Spirit and therefore there will be emotion. In any case of true love there is always an emotional response to what you have by way of capacity for love in the right lobe. Joel 2:28,29. There will be an appreciation of Christ on the earth rather than glorifying the absent Christ.

            13. Certain principles need to be applied from the angelic conflict. The angelic conflict explains the superiority of spirituality over the Mosaic law. The Mosaic law has an objective, i.e. to set up the laws of establishment, but spirituality has a higher objective to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why the Mosaic law was taught by elect angels in the days of Moses. Elect angels were most anxious for the winning of the angelic conflict and the Mosaic law is a summary of the laws of divine establishment. So angels taught the Exodus generation. Acts 7:38; Galatians 3:19; Psalm 68:7; Deuteronomy 33:2. Christ is superior to angels as He is resurrected and ascended, the believer is in union with Christ, and now we have a difference. Angels were the teachers of doctrine to the Old Testament saints, now angels are servants — Hebrews 1:13,14.

 

            Verse 22 — the proqesij of God, the predesigned plan of God, takes cognisance of operation footstool and relates it to the Church Age. “And hath put” is the aorist active indicative of u(potassw which is a military word for subordination. The aorist tense is a gnomic aorist, it is an absolute. It is an absolute fact that all demons will be subordinated under a person who is the God-Man and they will be subordinated under His authority so that everything is reversed as a result of the incarnation. Because of the incarnation any member of the human race in a resurrection body will be superior to any and all angels. That is coming up in the future and the gnomic aorist recognises this as an eschatological absolute. In addition to that it is also a culminative aorist. The active voice refers to the proqesij of God the Father. The indicative mood is the reality of this fact. Once Jesus Christ in His humanity was seated at the right hand of the Father meant it was all over for the fallen angels and all angels are inferior to the resurrected Christ seated at the Father’s right hand.

            “under his feet” — u(po plus the accusative plural of pouj. The aorist tense anticipates the future here and it also recognises the results which come from it. This is where we have operation footstool.

            “and gave him” — the aorist active indicative of didomi. This is God the Father giving God the Son who is also true humanity. It is actually giving the true humanity of Christ something that humanity has not had since Adam was created and placed in the garden. The aorist tense has the same concept. It is an eschatological gnomic aorist and is referring to a doctrine which is an absolute, a doctrine that will occur. The Lord Jesus Christ is now and will be forever the absolute sovereign over the Church. The active voice: God the Father produces the action as a part of the proqesij, the predesigned plan. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that God the Father did this in that moment when He said, “Sit down at my right hand.”

            “head” — kefalh is used for more than just the head. It means “head” sometimes but sometimes it means the absolute authority, the absolute sovereignty, and that is the meaning here.

            “over all” — the preposition u(per which means over and above, “above all.”

            “to the church” — dative of reference of e)kklhsia, “with reference to the church.” The dative of reference specifies not just advantage but it also sets the church aside as having a special mission. How is e)kklhsia used here? It refers to every believer, the church universal.

            Verse 23 — the predesigned plan of God provides a bride for the last Adam. God provided a bride for the first Adam. The first Adam had his right woman. She was his rib. He fulfilled here; she completed him. God the Father said, “Not good that Adam should be alone.” The last Adam is Jesus Christ Himself, emphasising His humanity. So if the first Adam had a right woman, so should the last Adam. The right woman of the last Adam is the Church. The rib is union with Christ.

            “Which” — the nominative feminine singular qualitative relative pronoun. The English does not define all of the characteristics here. It is feminine, and if we are not responders to God we are going to be responders to something else — in the soul. The nominative case tells us it is connected with the subject. The antecedent is the church — “the church which.” The singular indicates that the whole church is regarded as the bride of Christ. The feminine indicates the concept of the bride. The qualitative relative pronoun indicates that the bride has quality. So we have to translate this “Which is such a quality as to be his body.”

            “is” is the present active indicative of e)imi which means always is and always will be [His body].

            “his body” — to swma a)utou, “the body of [belonging to] him.” The first Adam was provided a woman by the Lord Jesus Christ. The last Adam is Jesus Christ and He was provided by God the Father a body. On the cross the last Adam was alone. The father says, “Not good that Adam should be alone.” Therefore the proqesij of God calls for one celebrity, the last Adam, to have a body on the earth, a bride. Our saviour is our only celebrity.

            “the fullness” — plhrwma means “fullness” and it means “fulfillment.” The Greeks used this for a man fulfilling his right woman in sex. As he fulfilled here she completed him. So this word is now brought into a spiritual realm and becomes a part of the theology of the Church Age.

            “of him” — definite article plus the genitive masculine singular of the relative pronoun, and it is translated “of the one.” “The one” is a title for Jesus Christ as out only celebrity.

            “that filleth” — the passive voice of plhrow (present passive participle). The present tense is the process of enfillment. The passive voice: Christ is being fulfilled. Every time a person in the Church Age believes in Jesus Christ, the baptism of the Spirit which occurs at the moment of salvation does the fulfilling. The participle emphasises the process, whereby when the body of Christ is completed it will be removed from this earth. The body of Christ will be completed when the believers in the Church Age are equal in number to the demons operating under Satan in the angelic conflict. This is discovered by comparing Zechariah 13:2 with Colossians 2:15, with 1 Corinthians 15:24,25. So this should be translated “the fullness of the one being filled.”

           

            “The fullness of the one being filled”  

            1. Plhrow means to fill up a deficiency. The lack of a right woman for the last Adam is fulfilled by the Church. The whole purpose of the Church Age is to give the last Adam His right woman.

            2. Plhrow means to fully possess. Jesus Christ as the right man fully possesses the Church which is His body, His bride.

            3. Plhrow means to fully influence. Jesus Christ fully influences His body on earth through Bible doctrine. Jesus Christ makes love to the believer through Bible doctrine only. As a believer responds to doctrine he responds to the love of Jesus Christ.

            4. Plhrow means to fill with a certain quality. Through Bible doctrine Christ fills the believer with the perfect quality of super-grace.

 

            “all in all” — the accusative plural of paj is an accusative of reference. “All” means there are no exceptions among believers; plus e)n plus the instrumental plural of paj which means “by means of all [believers of the Church Age].” It takes all believers to make the body of Christ in the Church Age.

            Translation: “Which is such a quality as to be his body, the fullness of the one being fulfilled with reference to all by means of all.”