I wish in these papers not so much to dwell on the doctrine of the epistle to the Ephesians, as on the conduct to which this doctrine leads. If the teaching of the epistle unfolds the highest character of Christian standing, its exhortations enforce the highest character of Christian walk. But in the Spirit’s teaching these subjects are always combined. The rules laid down for the believer’s conduct are drawn from the exposition of the place in which he is set. While therefore we shall look more at the practical than at the doctrinal parts of the epistle, we must ascertain the believer’s standing as here revealed, in order to comprehend the nature and motives of the conduct afterward enjoined.
The epistle to the Ephesians, though of course owning Jesus as the eternal Son, looks at Him generally in another character. We read in Philippians 2:6-11 That He, though “in the form of God, thought it not an object of rapine [a thing to be grasped at] to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Now here we have glory conferred upon Jesus, not in consequence of His being equal with God, but in consequence of His humbling Himself, being found in fashion as a man, and becoming obedient unto death. As God, all dominion and glory were His own; nor could anything be given Him. But as man, He had voluntarily emptied Himself, taking the lowest place, and bowing even to the power of death, in order to carry out God’s purposes of grace. God’s righteous response, then, to this obedience and devotedness was to exalt Him in the same character in which He had humbled Himself, giving to the man “Jesus” a name at which every knee should bow, and making every tongue to confess that He is Lord.
Now it is in this character that Jesus is generally presented in the epistle to the Ephesians. And this gives occasion to the unfolding of two great mysteries, till then hidden in the counsels of God from before the foundation of the world. The first of these is, that God will “gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” (Chapter 1:10). This is a vast expansion of the Messiah’s glories predicted in the Old Testament, and is the dignity which Jesus has acquired by His humiliation—the exalted “name” given Him because of His obedience “unto death, even the death of the cross.” The other mystery is, “that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of God’s promise in Christ by the gospel” (Chapter 3:6). This shows the complete suspension of God’s earthly purposes while He is bringing in a new people. In this new people the distinction between Jew and Gentile entirely disappears, and the two are classed together on the same ground. The new people are not an earthly people; for though still in the world, they are “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places”—nay, are even made to “sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Their distinguishing feature is, that they are seen and accepted “in Christ.”
The two mysteries are, then, the counsels of God, first concerning the full glory of the Lord Jesus, and next concerning the blessedness of the people who are thus closely associated with Him. The development of these two mysteries is the great object of the first half of the epistle. Hence it is not the sinner’s side of salvation, as in the epistle to the Romans, but God’s side, that is brought into prominence. In Romans the sinner is seen in his evil nature, and the cross is brought in for his deliverance. In Ephesians God’s eternal purposes are disclosed, and the object of redemption and the blessedness of the redeemed in connection with Christ set forth. The epistle to the Romans starts from man’s need to God’s grace; the epistle to the Ephesians starts from God’s grace to man’s need. The one shows how God can be righteous while He justifies and delivers the sinner; the other how the sinner’s need gives occasion to the display of God’s wisdom and grace. Hence in the Romans the sinner is regarded as alive in the flesh, and death is brought in as the means of his deliverance; while in the Ephesians the sinner is regarded as spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins, and the quickening power of God is shown in raising him out of this state, and setting him in the heavenly places in Christ.
The epistle begins therefore with thanksgivings for the standing which the believer now has in Christ. The question is not how far he comprehends or enjoys the privileges and blessings into which he is brought. In this there may be wide differences; in the privileges and blessings themselves there are none. The babe in Christ is in this respect on an equality with the young man and the father, for both are “in Christ,” and have the full blessedness of this standing. All believers are “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ;” have been “chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before God in love;” have been “predestinated unto the adoption of children by Christ Jesus” unto God, “according to the good pleasure of His will;” and are, therefore, “to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Chapter 1:3-6). These are the privileges, though the very unequally-enjoyed privileges, of all believers as seen in Christ, just as the foundation on which everything rests, “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God’s grace” (vs. 7), is the common portion of all saints. They are not future, but present privileges, and our possession of them arises from our having an acceptance in Him who has perfectly glorified God, and is now—not as the eternal Son of the Father, but in virtue of His work and obedience unto death—the object of God’s special delight and love. To speak of our being accepted, or of our being “in Christ,” when He is looked at in His divine nature, would be a grave error. But we are accepted, and are, as to our standing, “in Christ,” the risen glorified man at God’s right hand. In Romans believers are not spoken of as being “in Christ” until the eighth chapter, because there only do we arrive at the true Christian standing. In Ephesians this remarkable expression occurs at the very threshold, because all is here seen according to the counsels of God, and the full standing of the believer is therefore at once set forth.
And now the apostle, having put us in possession of our present privileges “in Christ,” goes on to show how God in His grace “hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence” (vs. 8), disclosing to us His own marvelous purposes concerning Christ. These purposes are not only concerning the earthly glories foretold by the Old Testament prophets, but also concerning the heavenly glories now first made known. Hence they are called a mystery; and we are told that God hath “made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself; that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” (vss. 9, 10). The Christ, God’s anointed, was always predicted as the One who was to exercise sovereign authority on earth; but that the man Jesus should, by virtue of His obedience and humiliation, have this supreme dignity conferred upon Him in heaven as well as on earth, was a mystery now first revealed. Of course it is not Christ’s glory as God that is here spoken of, for that He had always and inalienably; but it is as the risen man, the One in whom we are accepted, that He is thus exalted and glorified. Hence believers have a share in this dominion; for in Him “also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the pure pose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will; that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ” (vss. 11, 12). And not only had the believing Jews, “who first trusted in Christ,” this inheritance, but the believing Gentiles had the same; for they also had trusted when they heard the gospel, and after they believed, “were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (vss. 13, 14).
The possession has been purchased by the cross, but has not yet been fully redeemed, has not yet passed into the hands of the purchaser. Hence Christ is waiting, seated at the Father’s right hand, until “the dispensation of the fullness of times,” when this gathering together of all things in Himself will take place. We, too, are waiting, often indeed with very feeble faith and hope, but still with no uncertainty as to the result; for God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the pledge or earnest of our title till the time of redemption, when the possession will be entered upon and fully enjoyed.
The subject here is not the believer’s blessedness when he goes at death to be with Christ, nor even the richer blessedness he will know when the Lord comes to complete the work of redemption as to him, by giving him a body like His own, and taking him to the Father’s house. The redemption spoken of is not the redemption of the believer, but the redemption of the inheritance which the believer will receive together with Christ. The possession spoken of is not the possession of the joys and blessedness of the Father’s house, but the possession of that dominion which Christ will take, together with us as His joint-heirs, when all things are gathered together in Him.
Thus we have brought before us, in the opening of the epistle, our present privileges and our future possession “in Christ.” The apostle then prays that we may understand these things, and also “what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (vss. 15-21). If our acceptance in the Beloved involves our receiving the same privileges and possessions that He receives, it is brought about through our being quickened by the same power by which He was quickened. We are not only one with Him in our blessings and prospects, but also in our life. The same power was exercised in the same way in quickening us as in quickening Him. God has wrought toward us “according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead;” for He “hath quickened us together with Christ” (Chapter 2:4, 5). He has also wrought according to the power which has set Christ “at His own right hand in the heavenly places;” for He “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (vs. 6).
All this is most beautiful. We, poor helpless sinners, had no spiritual life whatever; “were dead in trespasses and sins.” Jesus in grace put Himself in our stead under God’s judgment, and died “the just for the unjust.” Thus we are fully delivered—not only freed from the righteous judgment of God, but, as shown in the Romans, “dead with Christ,” “crucified with Him,” our old sinful nature regarded as dead and buried with Him. The epistle to the Ephesians begins at this point of our history. It takes Christ up in death, and shows how God’s power “raised Him from the dead;” it takes us up as “dead in trespasses and sins,” and shows how the same power which raised Christ has quickened us. Thus in Romans we are delivered from the old nature by the cross of Christ; in Ephesians we are quickened in the new nature together with Christ. And this is something much more than new birth. It is a new birth, or a new life, of a peculiar character, conferred by the same power which raised Christ from the dead, so that we are not only quickened with Him, but are identified with Him—the risen and glorified One at God’s right hand. And so close is this identification, that, though still on earth, we are even now spoken of as seated together “in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
The closing words of the first chapter show the character of this identification in a very striking way. There we are told, concerning Christ, that God “hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all” (vss. 22, 23). This is the first time the church is named in the epistle, and a most marvelous revelation it is as to its character. From it we learn that when Christ takes the dominion over all things, according to God’s purpose, He will take it, not alone, but in conjunction with the church. It is not Christ that will reign merely, but Christ and the church; the church being so inseparably united with Him that it is said to be His “fullness” or completion—as much one with Himself as the body is one with the head. Hence Christ is not complete, in the character in which He will take the headship over all things, until the church, His body, is complete also. Until the last member has been added, Christ waits; for until then His body has not received its “fullness,” and the Head cannot take the dominion apart from the whole body.
It is perhaps unnecessary to repeat, though most important to remember, that this union, with all its blessed consequences, is not with Christ as the eternal Son, the Word who “was God,” but with Christ as the risen glorified Man. As God, there could be no union with Him. Nor again, as born into this world, could we be united with Him, or He with us. Until the corn of wheat had fallen into the ground and died, it must abide alone; but having died, it could bring forth much fruit. In His sinless life He was the spotless and obedient One, the revealer of the Father, but alone. In the death in which “He was made sin,” He was our Substitute and Savior; but there too He was all alone. In resurrection He became the head of a new creation, and it is by new creation that we are now “in Him;” for “if any man be in Christ, it is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)). Union with Christ is always spoken of in this connection: “He is the Head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead” (Col. 1:1818And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)). It is after He has been on the “horns of the unicorns” that He says, “I will declare thy name unto My brethren” (Psa. 22:21,2221Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 22I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. (Psalm 22:21‑22); Heb. 2:9-129But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (Hebrews 2:9‑12)). Not till after His resurrection does He use the words, “Go to My brethren,” or associate the disciples with Himself by speaking of “My Father, and your Father; My God, and your God” (John 20:1717Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)). So, too, it is by our being conformed to the image of the risen One that He becomes “the first-born among many brethren” (Rom. 8:2929For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)).
Such then is God’s grace towards us, who were once walking “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air.... fulfilling the desires of the flesh.... children of wrath” (Eph. 2:2,32Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (Ephesians 2:2‑3)). Grace has delivered us from this lost state, quickened us together with Christ, made us members of His body, given us His own acceptance before God, and associated us as fellow-heirs in His universal dominion. Surely this is worthy of God! He has thus wrought for His own glory, “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (vs. 7). All is of grace. Works can have no place here, nor the boastings of man. But is God indifferent to good works? Nay; “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (vss. 8-10). As to our standing, good works have no place; for we are God’s workmanship. But this very fact demands that good works should follow as a result. We are not created by good works, but we are created unto them.
T. B. B.