Ephesians 1:15-16
In exploring the themes of faithfulness and love for God’s people, we uncover the deep connections that unite believers. These principles reflect God’s character and invite His followers into a shared experience of His holiness and grace.
15″ That’s the reason, because I’ve heard of your trust in the Lord Jesus and the love that you have for all Christians, 16 why I never stop thanking God for you and remember you in my prayers.1
Because of All What?
1: 15 That’s the reason, (or “therefore)
Wherever you see a “therefore” in your reading, you have to ask what it is there for, the question is: because of all what?
The answer from verses 1- 14, is: that we have been “Chosen in him” because of all the things God has done “in him”. Because we are made to be holy, foreordained, adopted, delivered, forgiven, lavished with wealth and grace are poured on us and everything else from the exhaustive list in the preceding verses. Yet like a perfect sales pitch, there is more: We shall see, His plan, our Inheritance, the guarantee, the first hope, the counsel of his purpose, the praise of his glory, the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, the spirit of promise, the holy one being the people who are God’s special possession, faithfulness and love for God’s people who are reclaimed and freed.
And there is still more to find in the proceeding verses.
Not A Sales Pitch But A Reality
What makes it even better is this is not a sales pitch. It is a reality.
As you read and find more reasons you should be standing up clapping and cheering like true fans at a football match where your team has just won the grand final. Is it not better than any talk show personalities Christmas special giving out gifts? Our praise should be irrepressible!!!
Have you noticed that none of these things are material?
None are a promise of prosperity or life without trouble. Our inheritance in this life is none material and after death peace. Only after our resurrection will everything become more concrete.
Loyal and Faithful
1:15 (cont.) …because I’ve heard of your trust (you are loyal and faithful) in the Lord Jesus
Paul defines “faith” as our beliefs, loyalty, and faithfulness to what God has entrusted us. The church at Ephesus got on with each other. They disregarded social statuses, cultures and gender gaps. Thus they were loyal by being God’s representatives on earth—priests before the world. God commissioned the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai and commissioned the disciples during the Great Commission. Hence, they participate in the role God always called the people of Israel to do. People set apart, people commissioned. God calls all His people, Jews and Christians, to fulfil this role together.
When we see this happen we know that God has been at work in people’s lives.
Holy People (Holy Ones, Saints) – Two Families
1:15 (cont.) …and the love that you have (are showing) for all Christians (God’s holy people)
Translators often render the word “Christians” or “holy people” as “Saints.” However, English readers may miss the full theological significance of this term. Holiness (Hebrew קדשׁ “qadosh” / Greek ἁγιος – “hagios”) is first and foremost an attribute of God. We define it as His unique, one-of-a-kind otherness, His status as the Creator and the source of all reality. See Isaiah 6:3: “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh God the mighty, the whole land is the fullness of his glory.”
He has two families in parallel in God’s twin realms of Heaven and Earth. Both image-bearing representatives:
- human rulers on the land (Gen 1:26-28).
and
- spiritual beings (“the host of heaven” in Gen 2:1)
Both Families
God invites both families into proximity to His presence and allows them to share in His holy status.
- Israel is in the human realm and is called to be a “holy nation” (Exod 19:6). So when they are faithful to the covenant and have access to God’s presence in the temple, they become “holy ones.” “I am Yahweh your God and you will make yourselves holy, and you shall be holy ones for I am a holy one” (Lev 11:44; also 19:2; 20:7, 26; Num 15:40).
- Spiritual beings as “holy ones”: Zech 14:5; Psalm 89:6, 8; Dan 8:24
- Psalm 89:5: “The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh, even your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones”
- Psalm 89:7: “God is greatly feared in the council of his holy ones.”
Paul assigns the terminology of God’s divine heavenly council to those who trust the Messiah. Of course, God exalted Jesus, the human Messiah, over the divine council to rule Heaven and Earth (Eph 1:19-21), and He granted that same status to His people (Eph 2:5-6).
This then to Paul is a sign that God has already been working in God’s people to bring about faithfulness and love.
Praise God and Prayers
16 “… I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers”.
Here we see Paul at work where prayer is the heart of his work. Work that cannot be successfully done without the interface with God. As Christians, we live or should live in this interface between God and the world through prayer.
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1English: Free Bible Version Provided by: Free Bible Ministry, Inc. and open.bible, licensed under CC BY ND Published:
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