making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him. We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will,
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Ephesians 1:9-11 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love, having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved, in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him. We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will, to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ. In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
Parallel Translations
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making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him
to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him.
We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will,
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And hath openned vnto vs the mistery of his will accordinge to his pleasure and purposed the same in hym silfe
to have it declared when the tyme were full come that all thynges bothe the thynges which are in heven and also the thynges which are in erthe shuld be gaddered togedder even in Christ:
that is to saye in him in whom we are made heyres and were therto predestinate accordynge to the purpose of him which worketh all thinges after the purpose of his awne will:
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And hath opened vnto vs the mysterie of his will according to his good pleasure, which he had purposed in him,
That in the dispensation of the fulnesse of the times, he might gather together in one all things, both which are in heauen, and which are in earth, euen in Christ:
In whom also we are chosen when we were predestinate according to ye purpose of him, which worketh all things after the counsell of his owne will,
Cross-references (78)
- Romans 8:28 (vv9, 11) We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
- Colossians 1:20 (v10) and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through…
- Philippians 2:9-10 (v10) Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,…
- Galatians 4:4 (v10) But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,
- Daniel 2:44 (v10) “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left to…
Show all 73 cross-references
- 1 Peter 1:4 (v11) to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,
- Isaiah 46:10-11 (vv9, 11) I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all…
- Colossians 1:26-28 (v9) the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, to whom God was pleased to make…
- Mark 1:15 (v10) and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.”
- Ephesians 1:14 (v11) who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
- Romans 16:25-27 (v9)
- Ephesians 3:3-9 (v9) how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words, by which, when you read, you can perceive my…
- Ephesians 3:11 (vv9, 11) according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Ephesians 1:5 (v11) having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,
- 2 Timothy 1:9 (v9) who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to…
- Romans 8:17 (v11) and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
- Galatians 3:18 (v11) For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise.
- Colossians 1:12 (v11) giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,
- Ephesians 1:11 (v9) We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel…
- Titus 3:7 (v11) that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
- Hebrews 1:2 (v10) has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
- Hebrews 6:17 (v11) In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an…
- Isaiah 2:2-4 (v10) It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be…
- Acts 20:32 (v11) Now, brothers, I entrust you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up, and to give you the inheritance among all…
- Colossians 3:24 (v11) knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
- Colossians 1:16 (v10) For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or…
- Acts 2:23 (vv9, 11) him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
- Acts 26:18 (v11) to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins…
- Galatians 1:12 (v9) For I didn’t receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ.
- 1 Peter 1:20 (v10) who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake,
- Acts 4:28 (vv9, 11) to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen.
- Psalms 37:18 (v11) Yahweh knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever.
- Isaiah 40:13-14 (v11) Who has directed Yahweh’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor? Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him…
- Jeremiah 23:18 (v11) For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has listened to my word, and heard it?
- Jeremiah 32:19 (v11) great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of men, to give everyone according to his ways,…
- Micah 4:1-2 (v10) But in the latter days, it will happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains, and it will be…
- Acts 20:27 (v11) for I didn’t shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
- 1 Corinthians 2:10-12 (v9) But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For who among men knows…
- 1 Timothy 3:16 (v9) Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached…
- Revelation 5:9 (v10) They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your…
- Deuteronomy 4:20 (v11) But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today.
- Galatians 1:16 (v9) to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood,
- Ephesians 1:17-18 (v9) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,…
- Ephesians 1:22 (v10) He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,
- Ephesians 3:15 (v10) from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
- Revelation 19:4-6 (v10) The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “Amen! Hallelujah!” A…
- Genesis 49:10 (v10) The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the…
- Isaiah 5:19 (v11) who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come,…
- Isaiah 28:29 (v11) This also comes out from Yahweh of Armies, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.
- Lamentations 3:37-38 (v9) Who is he who says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord doesn’t command it? Doesn’t evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?
- Daniel 9:24-27 (v10) “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make…
- Amos 9:11 (v10) In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it…
- Zechariah 6:13 (v11) even he shall build Yahweh’s temple; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his…
- Matthew 13:11 (v9) He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
- Acts 13:48 (v9) As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
- Romans 11:34 (v11) “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
- Hebrews 12:22-24 (v10) But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels, to the…
- James 2:5 (v11) Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he…
- 1 Peter 3:9 (v11) not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult; but instead blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a…
- Proverbs 8:14 (v11) Counsel and sound knowledge are mine. I have understanding and power.
- 1 Corinthians 3:22-23 (v10) whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, and you are…
- 1 Corinthians 11:3 (v10) But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
- Ephesians 2:15 (v10) having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man…
- Job 23:13-14 (v9) But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? What his soul desires, even that he does. For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many…
- Psalms 33:11 (v9) The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
- Isaiah 14:24-27 (v9) Yahweh of Armies has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: that I will…
- Jeremiah 2:29 (v9) “Why will you contend with me? You all have transgressed against me,” says Yahweh.
- Malachi 3:1 (v10) “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the…
- Matthew 25:32 (v10) Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
- 1 Corinthians 10:11 (v10) Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
- Colossians 3:11 (v10) where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all,…
- Hebrews 11:40 (v10) God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
- Revelation 7:4-12 (v10) I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel: of the…
73 distinct cross-references across this passage (78 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (24 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. Having made known to us the mystery of…
9. Having made known to us the mystery of his will. Some were alarmed at the novelty of his doctrine. With a view to such persons, he very properly denominates it a mystery of the divine will, and yet a mystery which God has now been pleased to reveal. As he formerly ascribed their election, so he now ascribes their calling, to the good pleasure of God. The Ephesians are thus led to consider that Christ has been made known, and the gospel preached to them, not because they deserved any such thing, but because it pleased God.
Which he hath purposed in himself. All is wisely and properly arranged. What can be more just than that his purposes, with which men are unacquainted, should be known to God alone, so long as he is pleased to conceal them, — or, again, that it should be in his own will and power to fix the time when they shall be communicated to men? The decree to adopt the Gentiles is declared to have been till now hidden in the mind of God, but so hidden, that God reserved it in his own power until the time of the revelation. Does any one now complain of it as a new and unprecedented occurrence, that those who were formerly “without God in the world,” (Ephesians 2:12,) should be received into the church? Will he have the hardihood to deny that the knowledge of God is greater than that of men?
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9–11 For unless the Lord had opened unto us that…
For unless the Lord had opened unto us that mystery, we could never have so much as dreamed of it ourselves.
Not only the election, but also the vocation proceedeth of meer grace.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of…
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Ver. 9. The mystery of his will] That is, the gospel, a mystery both to men, 1Co 2:8, and angels, Eph 3:10.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Having made known unto us; having revealed to us…
Having made known unto us; having revealed to us outwardly by the preaching of the gospel; inwardly, by the illumination of the Spirit.
The mystery of his will; the whole doctrine of grace and salvation by Christ, which is a secret to others, and had still been so to us, had not God discovered it to us in the gospel.
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According to his good pleasure; the good pleasure of God is the fountain of all spiritual blessings which flow out to us, as well as it is of our being first chosen and appointed to be the subjects of them.
Which he hath purposed in himself; this signifies a firm, settled will in God, either merely of God, and moved by nothing out of himself, or his keeping this purpose in himself till the time appointed for the publication of it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv10–11 These words discover to us the end and design…
These words discover to us the end and design of God in making known the mystery of his will , that is, in revealing the gospel: it was to gather into one universal church both angels and men, Jews and Gentiles, under Christ their head, and by virtue of that union to become one with the Father, as he and Christ are one.
Here note, 1. That Christ is the Head both of angels and men; an head of confirmation to the angels, of redemption to fallen man: both angels and saints in heaven and on earth make up one family, of which Christ is the head; the angels are a part of the worshippers of Christ as well as we, they are apart of his family and household; the angels fill our churches as well as men, and are present in our congregations and assemblies,1Co 11:10.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Having made known unto us the mystery of his…
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,.... The Gospel, which is a mystery, a hidden mystery, the mystery of God and of Christ, and the mystery of the Gospel; the several doctrines of it are called the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; such as are concerning the trinity of persons in the Godhead, the union of the two natures in Christ, his sonship and incarnation, the saints' union and communion with him, the work of the Spirit of God upon the soul, the calling of the Gentiles, and the conversion of the Jews, the resurrection of the dead, and the change of living saints: and the Gospel is the mystery of the will of God; of his will in saving sinners by Christ; and it declares that he does all things in salvation, according to his sovereign will and pleasure; chooses, redeems, justifies, pardons, and calls whom he pleases; and this is made known by the ministry of the word, and by the Spirit, as a spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Christ and his Gospel: the discovery of which is,
according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself; both with respect to the persons to whom it is made known, and with respect to the time when he makes it known; both these are as he pleases, and as he has purposed in his own breast; the Gospel is sent when and where he has determined within himself it shall go; and persons are called by it according to his purpose and grace.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Having made known to us - By his word…
Having made known to us - By his word and by his Spirit. The mystery of his will - The gracious scheme of salvation by faith, which depends on his own sovereign will alone. This was but darkly discovered under the law; is now totally hid from unbelievers; and has heights and depths which surpass all the knowledge even of true believers.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Verse 9. Having made known unto us the mystery]…
Verse 9. Having made known unto us the mystery] That the Gentiles should ever be received into the Church of God, and have all the privileges of the Jews, without being obliged to submit to circumcision, and perform the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish law was a mystery-a hidden thing which had never been published before; and now revealed only to the apostles. It was God's will that it should be so, but that will he kept hidden to the present time. A mystery signifies something hidden, but it ceases to be a mystery as soon as it is revealed. See Clarke on Mt 13:11; and particularly that on, See Clarke on Ro 11:25.
Good pleasure] την ευδοκιαν. That benevolent design which he had purposed in himself, not being induced by any consideration from without.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9, 11 Eph 1:9-10. Having made known to us — By…
Eph 1:9-10. Having made known to us — By his Word and Spirit; the mystery of his will — The gracious scheme of salvation by faith, the appointment of which depended on his sovereign will alone; termed a mystery, because it was but darkly revealed under the law, is now totally hid from unbelievers, and has heights and depths in it which surpass all the knowledge even of true believers. “The whole doctrine of the gospel, taken complexly, is called the wisdom of God in a mystery, 1Co 2:7; not because any part of it is unintelligible, but for the reasons mentioned in the note on that verse.” “The same appellation is given to particular discoveries made in the gospel. For example, the salvation of the Gentiles through faith, without obedience to the law of Moses, is called a mystery. Rom 11:25; Rom 16:25. So likewise is the great discovery, that such of the saints as are alive on the earth at the coming of Christ, shall not die, but be changed, 1Co 15:51; and 2Th 2:7, we have the mystery of iniquity; and Rev 1:20, the mystery of the seven stars; and Rev 10:7, the mystery of God; and Rev 17:5; Rev 17:7, mystery, Babylon, the woman, the beast, and the false prophet. To this latter group, the appellation of mystery is given with singular propriety. For as the initiated [into the heathen mysteries] were instructed by having certain mystic shows set before them, the visions in the Revelation of the seven stars, and of the woman, and the beast, and the false prophet, representing the future state of the church, are all very aptly termed mysteries.” That in the dispensation of the fulness of times — When that time was fully come, which he, in his wise appointment and distribution of things, had judged most suitable and eligible; or in this last administration of his fullest grace, in which all the former dispensations terminated, which took place at the time most proper for it. “The word οικονομια, here rendered dispensation, signifies the plan which the master of a family, or his steward, has established for the management of the family. Also it signifies a plan formed for the management of any sort of business. In this passage it signifies the plan which God had formed for accomplishing the salvation of believers.” — Macknight. He might gather together in one — Greek, ανακεφαλαιωσασθαι, he might recapitulate, or unite again under one head; all things in Christ — All persons, whether angels or men, whether living or dead, with all things that are connected with or concern them; both in heaven and on earth — This is considered by some as a Jewish phrase, to express the whole world; and Locke thinks it may be equivalent to Jews and Gentiles, which is the meaning adopted also by Macknight, who says, “According to this interpretation, the gathering of all things under Christ, means both the forming of believing Jews and Gentiles into one catholic church, and the bringing of them both into the heavenly country through the mediation of Christ.” Beza, by things in heaven, understands the saints in heaven, who died before Christ came into the world, and who are not to be made perfect till the resurrection. But the interpretation adopted by Whitby, Chandler, Doddridge, Wesley, and many others, seems more probable, namely, that by things in heaven, both in this passage and Col 1:20, the angelical hosts are to be understood; and by things on earth, believers of all nations, who, with the angels, shall at length be joined in one great society, or church, for the purpose of worshipping God through all eternity, agreeably to Heb 12:22. “Both angels and men were at first in sweet and harmonious subjection to the Son of God, the great Creator of both; but man having broken himself off from this society, the Son of man, by his humiliation and sufferings, recovers all who believe in him, and in his human nature presides over the kingdom to which, in the world of glory, they and his angels belong. This interpretation presents so noble a view, that no other will bear a comparison.” — Doddridge.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Having made known to us the mystery of his…
Having made known to us the mystery of his will - The word “mystery” (μυστήριον mustērion) means literally something into which one must be “initiated” before it is fully known (from μυέω mueō, to initiate, to instruct); and then anything which is concealed or hidden. We commonly use the word to denote that which is above our comprehension or unintelligible. But this is never the meaning of the word in the New Testament. It means there some doctrine or fact which has been concealed, or which has not before been fully revealed, or which has been set forth only by figures and symbols. When the doctrine is made known, it may be as clear and plain as any other. Such was the doctrine that God meant to call the Gentiles, which was long concealed, at least in part, and which was not fully made known until the Saviour came, and which had been until that time “a mystery - a concealed truth” - though when it was revealed, there was nothing incomprehensible in it. Thus, in Col 1:26, “The mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.” So it was in regard to the doctrine of election. It was a mystery until it was made known by the actual conversion of those whom God had chosen. So in regard to the incarnation of the Redeemer; the atonement; the whole plan of salvation. Over all these great points there was a veil thrown, and people did not understand them until God revealed them. When they were revealed, the mystery was removed, and men were able to see clearly the manifestation of the will of God.
Which he hath purposed in himself - Without foreign aid or counsel. His purposes originated in his own mind, and were concealed until he chose to make them known; see 2Ti 1:9.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9–11 That he might make known to us, and to…
That he might make known to us, and to all men, the mystery of his will and pleasure in establishing his new law, of calling all Gentiles, as well as Jews, to believe in his Son, made man for us, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, (that is, at the time decreed from eternity) to establish, to accomplish, and, as it is in the Greek, to recapitulate all things in heaven and on earth, in Christ, and through him, and his merits; on earth, by fulfilling all the types, figures, and prophecies concerning the Messias; and in heaven, by filling up the number of his elect. (Witham) --- The mystery of his will. The word mystery signifies a secret, an unknown design. It was the will of God, to reveal to us the great design he had in the incarnation of his Son, viz. the formation of one great body of true adorers; composed, without distinction, of Jew and Gentile: till (ver. 10) when the time appointed shall come, he will reunite and perfect in or under Christ this one body, composed of the Church triumphant, Angels and saints in heaven, and the Church militant upon earth. (St. John Chrysostom, Estius, &c.)
Which he hath purposed in him;[2] i.e. in Christ: but in the Greek the sense is, in himself; i.e. in God the Father, who sent his Son. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
In eo; but in the Greek, en auto, in seipso.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–11 "He hath abounded," or "made (grace) to abound toward…
"He hath abounded," or "made (grace) to abound toward us" (Eph 1:8), in that He made known to us, namely, experimentally, in our hearts.
the mystery--God's purpose of redemption hidden heretofore in His counsels, but now revealed (Eph 6:19; Rom 16:25; Col 1:26-27). This "mystery" is not like the heathen mysteries, which were imparted only to the initiated few. All Christians are the initiated. Only unbelievers are the uninitiated.
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according to his good pleasure--showing the cause why "He hath made known to us the mystery," namely, His own loving "good pleasure" toward us; also the time and manner of His doing so, are according to His good pleasure.
purposed-- (Eph 1:11).
in himself--God the Father. BENGEL takes it, "in Him," that is, Christ, as in Eph 1:3-4. But the proper name, "in Christ," Eph 1:10, immediately after, is inconsistent with His being here meant by the pronoun.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9–11 2. This eternal election is according to a divine…
2. This eternal election is according to a divine ideal of an ultimate reconciliation of all mankind, through the headship of Christ, unto God, Eph_1:9-10.
9. Having made known—This making known is a revelation in time of a mystery which was in eternity; namely, the revelation by the gospel. It is a disclosure to the world of what was designed before the foundation of the world.
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Mystery—The matter covered by the mystery, namely, the gracious designs of God which truly lie in his eternal holy nature. Hence mystery of his will means the hitherto unrevealed beneficent restorative purpose by God willed in the past eternity; that is, the divine ideal of God for the restoration of all men, through the divine Son of man, to oneness with God.
According to his good pleasure—Literally, according to the beneficence of his which he hath purposed. The beneficence consisting in the summation, in Christ, of Eph_1:10.
In rendering ευδοκια beneficence, we differ from Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, and others, and agree with Olshausen and Eadie. The former are obliged to render in substance: Having revealed… according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed. But to purpose a good pleasure is a solecism. Having revealed… according to the beneficence of his, which he purposed, makes sense. And then Paul goes on to tell what the purposed beneficence is.
The phrase according to, is used five times in the section. God’s blessing accords with his choice of us: his predestination with beneficence of his will: forgiveness with riches of grace: revelation with beneficence: predestination with purpose.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. Having made known] An aorist participle. The time-reference…
9. Having made known] An aorist participle. The time-reference is to the actual revelation of the Gospel. Cp. e.g. Rom_3:21; Rom_16:25-26; 2Ti_1:10. And see last note.
unto us] the believing Church; as throughout this passage. No special reference to St Paul, or other Apostles, is intended. The “us” of Eph_1:9 must be identical with the “we” of Eph_1:11-12.
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the mystery] I.e., as always in N. T., a truth undiscoverable except by revelation; never necessarily (as our popular use of the word may suggest) a thing unintelligible, or perplexing, in itself. In Scripture a “mystery” may be a fact which, when revealed, we cannot understand in detail, though we can know it and act upon it; such a fact as that of 1Co_15:51, where we have it revealed that an inconceivable change will take place, at the last day, in the bodily condition of the then living saints; a change quite beyond the inferences of reason and also beyond the reach of imagination. Or it may be, as here, something much more within our understanding. But in both cases it is a thing only to be known when revealed. What this “mystery” is will be seen just below.
which he had purposed in himself] Better, which He purposed in Him, i.e. in the Son. The “purpose” of the Father was “in the Son,” inasmuch as it was to take effect through the Son, incarnate, sacrificed, and glorified; and further, as it concerned a Church which was to be incorporated “into Christ.” The whole context illustrates this phrase. For the “purpose,” cp. Eph_1:11; Rom_8:28; Rom_9:11; 2Ti_1:9.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–11 (9) Having made known unto us the mystery of…
(9) Having made known unto us the mystery of his will.—In the same connection we read in 1Co_2:7, “we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.” The word “mystery” properly signifies a thing which (see Eph_3:5; Col_1:27) “was hid from all ages, but is now made manifest.” So our Lord evidently uses it (in Mat_13:11; Mar_4:11; Luk_8:10). For the rest, except in four passages of the Apocalypse (Rev_1:20; Rev_10:7; Rev_17:5; Rev_17:7), it is used by St. Paul alone, and by him no less than twenty-one times, of which ten belong to this Epistle and the parallel Epistle to the Colossians—always in connection with such words as “knowledge,” “declaration,” “dispensation.” The ordinary sense of the word “mystery”—a thing of which we know that it is, though how it is we know not—is not implied in the original meaning of the word; but it is a natural derivative from it. Reason can apprehend, when revealed, that which it cannot discover; but seldom or never can it comprehend it perfectly. In this verse the mystery is declared to be accordant to the good pleasure of God’s will, which (it is added) “He purposed in Himself.” In this seems to be implied that (see Eph_3:19) though in some sense we can know it, yet in its fulness “it passeth knowledge.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Having made known unto us the mystery of his…
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will. The wide extent of God"s grace was a mystery, i.e. a hidden counsel, before Christ came and died, but it is now made known. In this, and not in the modern sense of mystery, the word musthrion is used by Paul. The thing hidden and now revealed was not the gospel, but God"s purpose with reference to its limits or sphere. (see Eph_3:6) According to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself. The whole phraseology denotes that, in this transaction, God was not influenced by any external considerations; the whole reason for it sprang from within. The threefold expression brings this out:
(1) according to his good pleasure (see ver. 5);
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(2) he purposed, or formed a purpose;
(3) in himself, without foreign aid, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor?". (Rom_11:34)
The revelation of the mystery.
It was the high distinction of the Apostle Paul that to him, and not to any one of the twelve apostles, was committed the revelation of a great mystery. Ten times is this mystery named in his Epistles. It is called significantly "his gospel;" for which he was, indeed, an ambassador in bonds; but a gospel even more gloriously practical than it was speculative in its tendency and character. It was a revealed secret, "hid from generations indeed, hid "from the foundation of the world;" a matter, not indeed unknowable, but simply unknown till it came to light through the revelation of this last apostle.
I THERE IS A TIME WHEN THE WORLD IS NOT READY FOR GOD"S MYSTERIES. The Divine purpose might be defeated by a premature disclosure to minds untrained for their reception. The presence of mysteries is a sort of moral training for man, in so far as it stimulates a sort of sober and devout inquisitiveness in minds blunted by sin, while reason needs likewise to be humbled under a sense of the necessity of illumination from on high. While we sit under the solemn shadows of Divine mysteries, we feel the need of lifting up our mantled eyeballs to the great Father of lights.
II THE MYSTERY DOES NOT COME WITHOUT DUE PREPARATION HAVING BEEN MADE FOR IT. Not only is the New Testament contained in the Old, but the whole pre-Christian period is one long preparation for the coming of Christ. Not only the types and prophecies of the Mosaic dispensation, but the whole history of the world, with all the marvelously intricate movements of providence, had a certain Christward tendency and leaning, as if to prepare the way for him who was the end of the Law, the turning-point between the old and the new time, "the pivot on which the entire plan of God moves." Thus we find "the Incarnation to be the center of gravity to the world"s great movements.
III BUT THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL WHICH THE APOSTLE MADE KNOWN WAS A VERY LARGE AND INCLUSIVE THING, EMBRACING JEW AND GENTILE, HEAVEN AND EARTH, IN ITS FULL AND GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT. Sometimes it appears as if it meant only Christ: "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory". (Col_1:27) Sometimes it appears as if it included nothing but the reception of the Gentiles into the Christian Church upon conditions of perfect equality with the Jews: "The mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel". (Eph_3:4-6) It was no mystery to pre-Christian ages that the Gentiles would be afterwards included in the Christian Church for the prophetic Scriptures are full of the subject; but it was never known till after the day of Pentecost that the theocracy itself was to be abolished, and that a new dispensation was to be established, under which the old distinction of Jew and Gentile was to be abolished. Sometimes it appears as if it meant a Divine purpose or plan, with Christ for its Center, stretching out over the whole length of the Christian dispensation, and finally re-collecting into one "things on earth" and "things in heaven" (vers. 9, 10). In fact, it means all three things; for the Divine plan for "the summing up" of all things included, as one of its earliest and most momentous facts, the inclusion of the Gentiles in the Church, and Jesus Christ as the very Center of the whole Divine dispensation, to whom shall be "the gathering of the people" in all ages of the world. This is the mystery of the gospel: not the Church, as some say, restricting the term to believers of the Christian dispensation; for it was by the Church the mystery was to be made known: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God". (Eph_3:10) Yet the Church was included in this glorious mystery of God, as the form in which there should be the final "summing up" of all things in heaven and in earth. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Having made known unto us the mystery of His…
Eph_1:9
Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself.
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The mystery of the gospel
I. The sovereign grace of God in making known to us the mystery of His will.
1. The gospel is called the mystery of Gods will. We must not expect to be able to grasp with our reason all that is contained in it.
2. God has made known to us His will, according to the good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.
II. The purpose of God in this dispensation--That He might gather together in one, etc.
1. The gospel is called the dispensation of the fulness of times.
2. The apostle teaches us that one end of this dispensation was, that God might gather together in one all things in Christ.
3. The apostle farther teaches us that the gospel is intended to unite in Christ all things, both which are in heaven and which are in earth.
(1) An argument for Christian love. In heaven charity never fails.
(2) An argument for Christian candour.
III. The obligation which lies on such as enjoy this privilege: to live to the praise and glory of Gods grace. (J. Lathrop, D. D.)
Gods revelation of mysteries
1. God works saving wisdom to none, to whom He opens not the doctrine of wisdom, the gospel of salvation.
(1) God opens this saving wisdom to us outwardly, by the preaching of His ministers. As in great schools there are inferior ushers as well as the principal master, so it is here: it pleases God by mans outward ministry to open the eyes of the mind, and bring from darkness to light.
(2) Man can but speak to the outward ears; God himself applies the doctrine to the heart.
2. The doctrine of our salvation through Christ is a hidden secrecy.
(1) It is a mystery absolutely, because it is a thing of itself within the will of God, which no creature by itself is able to know. If a thing within my mind be such that no creature can know it further than I make it known--none doth know the things of man but the spirit of man--how great and deep a secret is that which is within God Himself?
(2) Although now partly revealed, yet still a mystery because--
(a) Only partly revealed.
(b) Only revealed to a limited number. If the king acquaint some two or three of his nearest favourites with a secret, it remains a secret still in comparison with things commonly known.
(3) The wisdom of the gospel is still a mystery, when it is now divulged, in regard of those whose eyes are not opened to see it, and their ears bored to attend to it. As news so common everywhere that they are no news are still secret to those who, being deaf, have never heard them, so the gospel is to this day a hidden riddle to many Christians by outward profession.
3. The reason why God reveals the gospel to any is simply His good pleasure. Human merit absolutely excluded, so there is no ground for anyone to boast. (Paul Bayne.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. Having made known unto us. To all who…
9. Having made known unto us. To all who receive the adoption of Christ. The mystery of his will. The word “mystery” is used in the sense of something beyond human comprehension until revealed. This “mystery of his will” is revealed and is declared in the next verse. According to his good pleasure. See verse 5.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v10 10. “In the dispensation of the fullness of the…
ARGUMENT 2
ALL THINGS REHEADED IN CHRIST
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10. “In the dispensation of the fullness of the seasons, to rehead all things in Christ, those things in the heavens and those things upon the earth.” Where the English says, “gather together,” the Greek is anakephalaiosasthai, from ana, again, and kephalaion, the head. Hence, it means to rehead all things in Christ, both in the heavens and upon the earth. When God created this world, he constituted Adam and Eve the united head. When the devil succeeded in their abduction, he cut the head off of the world, thus leaving the poor, fallen world without a head. In the glorious restitution, Christ is going to glorify humanity, and restore him back to the headship of the world. In the fall, Satan destroyed spiritual life in humanity, thus cutting man’s head off. All the senses are in the head. Hence man, without a head, has no eyes to see hell open before him, no ears to hear the hideous groans of the damned and the dismal drumbeat of his own perdition, no nose to smell the brimstone, no tongue to taste the devil’s filthy tobacco which would nauseate a dog, and no nerves to feel the awful trepidation inspired by an eternity of woe. This is the reason why the millions of this poor, lost world are rushing at racehorse speed into hell. In regeneration the Lord restores back your head, which you lost in the fall; in sanctification radically exterminating the counterfeit head, which the devil has put on all sinners. Christ will also, in due time, rehead this fallen world, restoring its Edenic glory, sanctifying by fire and transforming it into a heaven, committing it to the glorified saints and unfallen angels, to shine and shout through all eternity. The English word, heaven, is heavens in the Greek, corroborating astronomy in the infinite multiplicity of celestial worlds, all of which were more or less affected by the fall of this world. (Heb 9:23.) Hence, the work of Christ will not only restore this world to its perfect celestial loyalty, but so confirm all other worlds as to effectually fortify them against the liability of future apostasy.
11,12. Here, again, we have a beautiful allusion to the predestination of the saints in harmony with the sweet will of God, “who, beforehand, had hope in Christ.” This is a beautiful allusion to the glorious millennial harvest, of which the saints, in the gospel dispensation, are the first fruits.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v11
EPHESIANS
GOD’S INHERITANCE AND OURS
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Eph 1:11
A dewdrop twinkles into green and gold as the sunlight falls on it. A diamond flashes many colours as its facets catch the light. So, in this context, the Apostle seems to be haunted with that thought of ‘inheriting’ and ‘inheritance,’ and he recurs to it several times, but sets it at different angles, and it flashes back different beauties of radiance. For the words, which I have wrenched from their context in the first of these two verses, are more accurately rendered, as in the Revised Version, in ‘whom also we were made,’ not ‘have obtained’-’an inheritance.’ Whose inheritance? God’s! The Christian community is God’s possession. Then, in my second text, we have the converse thought-’the earnest of our inheritance.’ What is the Christian’s possession? The same God whose possession is the Christian. So, then, there is a deep and a wonderful relation between the believing soul and God, and however different must be the two sides of that relation, the resemblance is greater than the difference. Surely that is the deepest, most blessed, and most strength-giving conception of the Christian life. Other notions of it lay stress, and that rightly, upon certain correspondence between us and God. My faith corresponds to His faithfulness and veracity. My obedience corresponds to His authority. My weakness lays hold on His strength. My emptiness is replenished by His fulness. But here we rise above the region of correspondences into that of similarity. In these other aspects the convexity fits the concavity; in this aspect the two hemispheres go together and make the complete globe. We possess God, and God possesses us, and it is the same set of facts which are set forth in the two thoughts, ‘We were made an inheritance, ... the earnest of our inheritance.’
I. Now, then, let me ask you to look first at this mutual possession.
We possess God; God possesses us. What does that mean? Well, it means plainly and chiefly this, a mutual love. For we all know-and many of us thankfully can bear witness to the truth of it in our earthly relationships,-that the one way by which a human spirit can possess a spirit is by the sweet mutual love which abolishes ‘mine’ and ‘thine,’ and all but abolishes ‘me’ and ‘thee.’ And so God sets little store by the ownership which depends on divinity and creation, though, of course, that relation brings with it a duty. As the old psalm has it, ‘It is He that hath made us, and we are His’; still, such a relationship as this, based upon the connection that subsists between the Maker and the work of His hands, is so purely external, and harsh, and superficial, that God does not reckon it to be a possession at all.
You perhaps remember how, in the great word which underlies all these New Testament conceptions of God’s ownership of His people, viz. the charter that constituted Israel into a nation, He said, ‘Ye shall be unto Me a people for a possession above all nations, for all the earth is Mine.’ And yet, though that ownership and mastership extended over everything that His hands had made, He-if I might so say-contemned it, and relegated it to a secondary position, and told the people that His heart hungered for something deeper, more real, more vital than such a possession, and that therefore, just because all the earth was His, and that was not enough to satisfy His heart, He took them and made them a peculiar treasure above all nations. We have, then, to think of that great Divine Love which possesses us when He loves us, and when we love Him.
But remember that of this sweet commerce and reverberation of love which constitutes possession, the origination must be in His heart. ‘We love Him because He first loved us.’ The mirrors are set all round the great hall, but their surfaces are cold and lifeless until the great candelabrum in the centre is lit, and then, from every polished sheet there flashes back an echoing, answering light, and they repeat and repeat, until you scarce can tell which is the original and which is the reflection. But quench the centre-light, and the daughter-radiances vanish into darkness. The love on either side is on one side spontaneous and underived, and on the other side is secondary and evoked, but it is love on both sides. His possession of us is, as it were, the upper side, and our possession of Him is, as it were, the underside of the one golden bond. It matters not whether you look at the stream with your face to its source or with your face to its mouth, the silvery plain is the same; and the deepest tie that knits men to God is the same as the tie that knits God to men. There is mutual possession because there is mutual love.
Then again, in this same thought of mutual possession there lies a mutual surrender. For to give is the life-breath of all true love, and there is nothing which the loving heart more desires than to be able to pour itself out-much rather than any subordinate gifts-on its object. But that, if it is one-sided, is misery, and only when it is reciprocal, is it blessed. God gives Himself to us, as we know, most chiefly in that unspeakable gift of His Son, and we possess Him by virtue of His self-communication which depends upon His love. And then we possess Him, and He possesses us, not less by the answering surrender of ourselves, which is the expression of our love. No love subsists if it is only recipient; no love subsists if it is only communicated. Exports and imports must both be realised in this sweet commerce, and we enrich ourselves far more by what we give to the Beloved than by what we keep for ourselves.
The last, the hardest thing to surrender, is our own wills. To give them up by constraint is slavery that degrades. To give them up because we love is a sacrifice which sanctifies, even in the lowest reaches of daily life. And the love that knits us to God is not invested with all its blessed possession of Him, until it has surrendered its will, and said, ‘Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.’ The traveller in the old fable gathered his cloak around him all the more closely, and held it the more tightly, because of the tempest that blew, but when the warm sunbeams fell he dropped it. He that would coerce my will, stiffens it into rebellion; but when a beloved one says, ‘Though I might be much bold to enjoin thee, yet for love’s sake I rather beseech,’ then yielding is blessedness, and the giving ourselves away is the finding of God and ourselves.
I need not touch, in more than a word, upon another aspect of this mutual possession, brought into view lovingly in many parts of Scripture, and that is that there is in it not only mutual love and mutual surrender, but mutual indwelling, ‘He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.’ Jesus Christ has said the same thing to us, ‘I am the Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me bringeth forth much fruit.’ We dwell in God, possessing Him; He dwells in us, possessing us. We dwell in God, being possessed by Him. He dwells in us, being possessed by us. And He moves in the heart that loves, as the Master walking through His house, as the divinity is present in the temple, and as the soul permeates the body, and is sight in the eye and colour in the cheek, and force in the arm, and deftness in the finger, and swiftness in the foot. So the indwelling God breathes through all the capacities, and all the desires, and all the needs of the soul which He inhabits, and makes them all blessed. The very same set of facts-the presence of a divine life in the life of the believing spirit-may either be looked at from the lower end, and then they are that I possess God, and find in Him the nutriment and the stimulus for all my being, or may be looked at from the upper end, that He possesses me and finds in me capacities and a nature the emptiness of which He fills, and organs which He uses. In both cases mutual love, mutual surrender, mutual inhabitation, make up God’s possession of me and my possession of God.
II. And now let me point you in a very few words to some of the plain, practical issues of this mutual possession.
God’s possession of us demands our consecration. ‘Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price,’ therefore, to live for self is to fly in the face of the very purpose of Christ’s mission and of God’s communication of Himself to us. There are slaves who run away from their masters and ‘deny the Lord that bought them.’ We do that whenever, being God’s slaves, we set up anything else than His will as our law, or anything else than His glory as the aim of our lives. To live for self is to die, to die to self is to live. And the solemn obligations of that most blessed possession by God of us are as solemn as the possession is blessed, and can only be discharged when we turn to Him, and yield the whole control of our nature to His merciful hand, believing that He has not only the right to dispose of us, but that His disposition of us will always coincide with our sanest conceptions of good, and our wisest desires for happiness. Yield yourselves to God, for He has yielded Himself to you, and in the yielding we realise our largest and most blessed possession. It is a good bargain to give myself and to get God.
God’s possession of us not only demands consecration, but it ensures safety. Remember that great word, ‘No man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.’ God is not a careless owner who leaves His treasures to be blown by every wind, or filched by every petty robber. He is not like the king of some decrepit monarchy, slices of whose territory his neighbours are for ever paring off and annexing. What God has God preserves. ‘He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.’ ‘They are Mine, saith the Lord, My jewels in the day which I make.’ But our security depends on our consecration. ‘No man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.’ No! But you can wriggle yourself out of your Father’s hand, if you will. And the security avails only so long as you realise that you belong to God, and are living not for yourself.
Possessing God we are rich. There is nothing that is truly our wealth which remains outside of us, and can be separated from us. ‘Shrouds have no pockets,’ says the Spanish proverb. ‘His glory shall not descend after him,’ says the grim psalm. But if God possesses me He is not going to let His treasures be lost in the grave. And if I possess Him then I shall pass through death as a beam of light does through some denser medium-a little refracted indeed, but not broken up; and I shall carry with me all my wealth to begin another world with. And that is more than you can do with the money that you make here. If you have God, you have the capital to commence a new condition of things beyond the grave.
And so that mutual possession is the real pledge of immortal life, for nothing can be more incredible than that a soul which has risen to have God for its very own, and has bowed itself to accept God’s ownership of it, can be affected by such a transient and physical incident as what we call death. We rise to the assurance of immortality because we have an inheritance which is God Himself. And in that inexhaustible Inheritance there lies the guarantee that we shall live while He lives, because He lives, and until we have incorporated into our lives all the majesty and the purity and the wisdom and the power that belong to us because they are God’s.
But we have to notice the two words that lie at the beginning of our first text-’In whom we were made an inheritance.’ That opens up the whole question of the means by which this mutual possession becomes possible for us men. Jesus Christ has died. That breaks the bondage under which the whole world is held. For the true slavery which interferes with the free service and the full possession of God is the slavery of self and sin. Jesus Christ has died. ‘If the Son make you free ye shall be free indeed.’ That great sacrifice not only ‘breaks the power of cancelled sin,’ but it also moves the heart, in the measure in which we truly accept it, to the love and the surrender which make the mutual possession of which we have been speaking. And so it is in Him that we become an Inheritance, that God comes to His rights in regard to each of us. And it is in Him that we, trusting the Son, have the inheritance for ours, and ‘are heirs with God, and joint heirs with Christ.’ So, dear friends, if we would ‘be meet for the inheritance of the saints in light,’ we must unite ourselves to that Lord by faith, and through Him and faith in Him, we shall receive ‘the remission of sins and inheritance among all them that are sanctified.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv9–10 See, Rom 16:25; Rom 16:26; Eph 3:3. (See Scofield…
mystery
See, Rom 16:25; Rom 16:26; Eph 3:3. (See Scofield "Mat 13:11").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v11 How the plan of God is carried out in…
How the plan of God is carried out in the individual cases is nest shown by the apostle:
v. 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will;
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v. 12. that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.
v. 13. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
v. 14. which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.
In Christ God has brought together the sum total of all believers, united them under the one Head. And now the apostle continues: In Him, in whom we have been allotted (chosen), having been foreordained according to the purpose of Him who effectively works all things after the counsel of His will. In Christ, according to the Greek word here used, an allotment was made by God, and since the special idea of determining by lot does not accord with the context, we may use "choose" or "elect" as a synonym. Incidentally, the thought that we were chosen for God’s inheritance, that we are heirs of eternal life, cannot be said to be foreign to the connection. We are chosen in being foreordained according to the purpose or previous determination of God; in God, in His design, in His will, our election unto faith and eternal life rests, not in any merit in ourselves. And God’s designs do not fail, His purpose is operative in all things after the counsel of His will. In all things, in the history of nations as well as in the life of individuals, His power directs and shapes all affairs, not according to arbitrary fancies, but according to a well-planned counsel; the determination to carry out the plan was preceded by mature deliberation.
The object of God in making this choice was: To the end that we should be unto the praise of His glory. The whole life of the Christians should serve for the praise of the glory of God. God wanted to be glorified in us, primarily through His grace and mercy, but then also through His might and power. See Isa 43:21. This purpose of God was realized first in the believing Jews, represented by Paul and the Jewish Christians in general: We who have aforetime (before this) put our hope in Christ. The true Israelites in the Jewish nation put their trust in the Messiah even before He appeared in the flesh, and many Jews accepted Him as their Savior before He gave the command to bring the Gospel-message to the Gentiles. In these people God actually carried out His eternal counsel, or election.
But God’s plan is not confined to the Jews: in whom also you, having heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. In the case of the Gentiles also, as Paul here shows in addressing the Ephesian congregation, which consisted largely of Gentile Christians, God’s eternal purpose was realized. They have been brought to faith in Christ by accepting the Word of Truth, the message which testifies of the divine truth, the Gospel which tells them of the salvation gained by the Savior. In this way they have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. When working faith, the Holy Ghost comes into the heart of man, dwells in him, becomes a seal of his faith, gives him the divine certainty that he belongs to God and will remain His own in time and eternity. Preservation in the true faith is a work of the Holy Ghost, who, as Luther has it, called us by the Gospel, enlightened us with His gifts, sanctified and kept us in the true faith.
The result therefore is: Who is the earnest of our inheritance for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory. In Christ we have the redemption in His blood, the forgiveness of sins. This fact the Holy Spirit has impressed upon us by faith. And therefore He Himself is our earnest-money, our guarantee and assurance, that our final redemption from all evils of body and soul, of property and honor, will come, that we, the redeemed of the Lord, His own peculiar people, shall enter upon the possession and enjoyment of our inheritance in heaven. And with this consummation of our hopes the praise of the glory of God will also reach the state of perfection; then we shall exalt Him and all that He has done for us, world without end. Note: The election of grace always refers to the entire plan of God with reference to the chosen. It is not an absolute decree, but was made in Christ and is founded in the divine promises. Its acceptance is done by the certainty of faith.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 11 according to what pleased him
according to what pleased him
Possible meanings are 1) "because he wanted to make it known to us" or 2) "which was what he wanted."
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which he demonstrated in Christ
"he demonstrated this purpose in Christ"
in Christ
"by means of Christ"
with a view to a plan
A new sentence can be started here. AT: "He did this with a view to a plan" or "He did this, thinking about a plan"
for the fullness of time
"for when the time is right" or "for the time that he has appointed"
translationWords
mystery
in Christ
heaven
earth
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v11 1:11 we have received an inheritance from God: Paul…
1:11 we have received an inheritance from God: Paul often talks about salvation as an inheritance, something promised to our spiritual ancestors and received by us (see Rom 8:17; Gal 3:29; 4:7; Col 1:12; 3:24). • Because God is sovereign, he makes everything work out according to his plan (cp. Rom 8:28-30).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.