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PAUL AN APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS BY THE WILL OF GOD:
(Romans
1:1;
1 Corinthians 1:1;
Galatians 1:1)
As you begin to read these notes,
remember to read the book first, saturating your mind with the glorious
and majestic truths that literally cascade off of the written pages.
I love what Pastor Ray Stedman's
introductory remarks to his series on Ephesians...
I hope that, as we begin this
doctrinal portion of Ephesians, your heart will be anticipating
tremendous truth. I would like to urge you to read this letter through
once a week during the time that we are engaged in studying these first
three chapters. Read it through in various versions, and in different
ways. Read it through at one sitting the first week, and then the next
week take a chapter a day. Other weeks read it in some of the
paraphrases. Let this truth come to you afresh in new and different
language. I can guarantee that if you will do this faithfully until we
finish our study you will never be the same person again. This truth has
the power to change you, and it will!
I think that, of all Paul's
letters, the letter to the Romans and this one to Ephesians have
affected me most profoundly. Both are attempts at a systematic and
rather exhaustive setting forth of the whole Christian view of life and
of the world. Others of Paul's letters deal with specific problems, and
they are very helpful when we are involved with those same problems. But
these two deal with the whole sweep of truth, the great canvas of God's
painting of reality. Ephesians has changed my life again and again:
It was from this book that I learned how the body of Christ functions.
The truth of the fourth chapter was strongly in my heart when I came to
Palo Alto, as a young man fresh from seminary, and began to pastor a
small group of people meeting here. It was the conviction that the
ministry belongs to the saints, and that the business of a pastor is to
help the people find their ministries and to prepare them to function in
them, and to discover the excitement of living as Christians where they
are, which was formative in the early years of Peninsula Bible Church
and is still so strongly emphasized here. It was from this letter that I
learned, as a young man, how to handle the sex drive which God had given
me, as he has given it to all of us, and how to live properly in a
sex-saturated society. This letter is most practical in that way. It
teaches us how to come to grips with life as it is.
This letter taught me profound
truths about marriage and about family life. I'm still learning in this
area, and have a lot more to learn, but I've already learned a great
deal about this subject from the letter to the Ephesians. It was this
letter which taught me better than any other passage of Scripture how to
understand the strange turbulence I often found in my own heart, the
spiritual attacks to which I was subject, and how to deal with my fears
and anxieties and my depressions -- where these were coming from, and
what to do about them. So this is a great and practical letter, and I
urge you to become familiar with it and to make it second nature to know
the truth of Ephesians. Let me share with you the experience of another
person in this respect. This is from the introduction to a book by Dr.
John McKay, for many years the president of Princeton University:
I can never forget that the
reading of this Pauline letter when I was a boy in my teens exercised a
more decisive influence upon my thought and imagination than was ever
wrought upon me before or since by the perusal of any piece of
literature. The romance of the part played by Jesus Christ in making my
personal salvation possible, and in mediating God's cosmic plan, so set
my spirit aflame that I laid aside, in all ecstasy of delight, Dumas'
Count of Monte Cristo which I happened to be reading at the time. That
was my encounter with the Cosmic Christ. The Christ who was, and is,
became the passion of my life. I have to admit without shame or reserve
that as a result of that encounter I have been unable to think of my own
life or the life of mankind or the life of the cosmos apart from Jesus
Christ. He came to me and challenged me in the writings of St. Paul. I
responded. The years that have followed have been but a footnote to that
encounter.
So I would suggest that, if you
feel the need for change in your own life and for deepening your
relationship with our Lord, you would do well to expose yourself in a
very personal way to these teachings from the letter to the Ephesians.
(Read the entire sermon
Ephesians 1:1-14: God At Work)
(Copyright © 1972
Discovery Publishing,
a ministry of
Peninsula Bible Church.)
John Stott, writes that...
“The letter to the Ephesians is a
marvelously concise, yet comprehensive summary of the Christian good
news and its implications. Nobody can read it without being moved to
wonder and worship, and challenged to consistency of life.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge called
Ephesians
“The divinest composition of Man.”
Paul ("I, Paul" in
Ephesians 3:1)
penned this letter from prison (see notes
Ephesians 3:1,
4:1,
6:20)
in Rome sometime around 62 AD or at least 5 years after (these are at
best approximations for Scripture is silent on these specific dates) he
had last seen the saints in Ephesus and Asia (modern day western
Turkey). It is interesting that only a small number of men and women
throughout history can be identified immediately by only their first
name. And yet we all know who Paul was because his life had such impact
in the past and present.
Ephesians was one of Paul's so-called
"prison epistles" (Colossians, Philippians, Philemon being the others).
Prison has proved a fertile ground for writings of other men of God,
such as John Bunyan's famous allegory, Pilgrim's Progress and in recent
times, Watergate criminal Chuck Colson's "Born Again."
James Montgomery Boice called
Ephesians...
A mini-course in theology,
centered on the church.” That is what Paul’s great letter to the
Ephesians, written from Rome shortly after the midpoint of the first
Christian century, is about. But what a course! What theology!
Like Romans, Ephesians deals with the most fundamental Christian
doctrines. But even more than that other great doctrinal book, it
stresses the sovereignty of God in salvation and the eternal sweep of
God’s great plan, by which believers are lifted from the depth of sin’s
depravity and curse to the heights of eternal joy and communion with
God. Like 1 and 2 Corinthians and the pastoral letters, Ephesians deals
with the church. But even more than these very practical letters,
Ephesians highlights the church’s true spiritual dynamics and gives
guidelines for the new relationships in which the reality of the new
humanity can be seen. Like 1 Peter and James, Ephesians speaks of the
Christian’s spiritual warfare. But only in Ephesians is that warfare
presented in such vivid imagery and unforgettable terms. (Boice,
J. M.: Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary
).
In
Inductive Bible study,
a good understanding of the
context
is critical for accurate
interpretation. With this in mind take a few moments and read through the
Ephesians Study Notes on what the city and population of Ephesus was like in Paul's day.
This study deals especially with Acts 19, in which Luke provides
a synopsis of the longest stay of Paul in any one missionary city.
See also Acts 28:11-31
for a discussion of Paul's imprisonment in Rome, from which he penned
this great letter, filled with sublime doctrines of the faith, so much
so that one writer has called it "the Grand Canyon of Scripture"
meaning that it is breathtakingly beautiful and apparently inexhaustible
to the one who seeks to explore its breath and length and height and
depth.
The English poet Samuel
Taylor Coleridge termed
Ephesians
“the divinest composition of man...
It embraces, first, those doctrines peculiar to Christianity, and,
then,
those precepts common with it in natural religion.”
John Mackay, former
president of Princeton Theological Seminary who was converted at age 14
while reading Ephesians, called it the
“greatest … maturest … (and) for our
time the most relevant” of all Paul’s writings adding that “This letter
is pure
music”.
James
Montgomery Boice in answering what the appeal of Ephesians is writes
that ...
The focus for all the other doctrines
in Ephesians is the church as God’s new society, so in a sense the book
links these truths of Christianity to us, God’s people. In other words,
it is practical. We are told who we
are, how we came to be as
we are, what we shall be, and what we must do now in light of that
destiny. John R. W. Stott writes, “The whole letter is thus a
magnificent combination of Christian doctrine and Christian duty,
Christian faith and Christian life, what God has done through Christ and
what we must be and do in consequence.” (Boice,
J. M.: Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary
).
Paul (3972) (paulos)
(click
brief overview of his life)
is from the Latin word
"paulos" and was
a Romans surname meaning small or little
but there is no evidence in the New Testament that
either Paul or any of his contemporaries attached any personal
significance to the meaning of his name. Hebrew parents often gave their sons a Gentile name in addition to a
Jewish one.
Before his Damascus Road experience
he was known by his Hebrew name Saul (Greek
Saulos)
which means "desired" or "ask or pray" (derived from Hebrew word for "ask")
Paul is referred to as Saul in Acts until his clash with Bar
Jesus at Paphos, when Luke writes,
"But Saul, who
was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze upon
him" (Acts
13:9).
In view of Paul's extended stay in Ephesus, it would not have been
unexpected in human terms had he begun his letter with a review of his
many accomplishments or even a reminder of what he had personally
endured to bring the gospel of Christ to Asia. But Paul was not into
resting on laurels but pressing on toward the goal. In fact later in
this epistle he describes himself as...
the very least of all saints (to whom)
this
grace was given (Paul never saw himself as self made), to preach to the
Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ (see note
Ephesians 3:8)
On the other hand as Paul says in his
letter to the Corinthians the origin of the
things we also speak, (is) not in
words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit,
combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. (1Cor 2:13) (Comment:
In other words Paul is saying that the things he teaches are not really
his but God's for they are their very words are taught by the Spirit and
are not to be regarded as other books written by mere men. The upshot is
that everything he has written is Truth and carries the authority of
God! This is a clear claim to divine verbal inspiration of Paul's own
epistles. This is not a "mechanical dictation" theory, nor does it
nullify the personality of the author involved. On the other hand,
Paul's affirmation does guarantee that when the Bible is heard, God is
heard.)
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones has
written that...
"Much of the trouble in the church
today is due to the fact that we are so subjective, so interested in
ourselves, so egocentric... Having forgotten God, and having become so
interested in ourselves, we become miserable and wretched, and spend our
time in ‘shallows and in miseries.’ The message of the Bible from
beginning to end is designed to bring us back to God, to humble us
before God, and to enable us to see our true relationship to him... And
that is the great theme of this epistle." (Lloyd-Jones, D M: God’s
Ultimate Purpose: An Exposition of Ephesians 1:1 to 23 Grand Rapids:
Baker, 1979) (Comment: Notice that Lloyd-Jones' book is only on
chapter 1 and is the first of 8 full books he wrote, testifying to the
profundity of this 6 chapter epistle!)
Apostle (652) (apostolos
from apo = from +stello = send forth) (Click
word study of
apostolos) one sent forth from by
another, often with a special commission to represent another and to
accomplish his work.
Cargo ships were sometimes called apostolic, because they were
dispatched with a specific shipment for a specific destination. In
secular Greek apostolos was used of an admiral of a fleet sent
out by the king on special assignment.
In secular Greek
apostle was commonly used to describe one who was sent in an
official capacity as an ambassador, delegate, messenger or envoy.
A good parallel of
apostle is our English word ambassador defined by Webster as
"a diplomatic agent of the highest
rank accredited to a foreign government as the resident representative
of his own government for a special and often temporary diplomatic
assignment". (cf
Eph 6:20)
Paul was an
official ambassador of Christ with an official proclamation of
the gospel of good news.
In its
broadest sense, apostle can refer to all believers, because every
believer is sent into the world as a messenger of and witness for Christ
(cf note on
Philippians 2:25
where "messenger" is apostolos). But in the NT the term
apostle is
predominantly used as a specific and unique title for the thirteen men
(the Twelve original disciples of Jesus, with Matthias replacing Judas,
plus Paul, the thirteenth) whom Christ personally chose and commissioned
to authoritatively proclaim the gospel and lead the early church. The
thirteen apostles not only were all called directly by Jesus but all
were witnesses of His resurrection, Paul having encountered Him on the
Damascus Road after His ascension. Those thirteen apostles were given
direct revelation of God’s Word to proclaim authoritatively, the gift of
healing, and the power to cast out demons (Mt
10:1). By these signs their teaching authority was verified
(cf. 2Co
12:12). Their teachings became the foundation of the church
(see note
Ephesians 2:20), and their authority extended beyond local bodies of
believers to the entire believing world. In the present context Paul
uses apostle
in its more common specialized, restricted meaning. The authority of
Paul's message did not derive from the messenger but from the Sender.
In
Acts 1:21-22 the
Apostle
Peter delineates the necessary qualifications of the original thirteen
apostles...
"Therefore it is
necessary that of the
men who have
accompanied us
all the
time that the
Lord
Jesus
went in and out
among us--beginning
with the
baptism of
John
until the
day that He was
taken up from
us--one of
these must
become a
witness with us of
His
resurrection."
To reiterate, Peter is defining
an
apostle
as a man who had seen the risen Messiah and who was sent forth by Him
with His full authority to plant the flag of faith in every community to
which His master led him. Peter was Christ's emissary and spoke with His
authority as was Paul's. Their apostolic duties included the following:
Preach the gospel (1 Cor. 1:17), teach and pray (Acts 6:4), work
miracles (2 Cor. 12:12), build up other leaders of the church (Acts
14:23), and write the Word of God (Eph. 1:1). Paul by
mentioning his apostleship, simply establishes his divinely–bestowed
authority to speak on behalf of God (a practice he repeats at the
beginning of each epistle except Philippians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians)
While
there are no apostles today in the sense that Paul and Peter were
apostles (although we hear many who lay claim to this title -- beware!)
it is certainly to be expected that believers, regardless of the
spiritual gift they possess, minister their gift as those sent forth on
a mission with authority for as Paul reminds us in (2Co
5:20) "we are (all) ambassadors for Christ."
Note
that by designating himself an "apostle
of Jesus Christ", Paul called attention not to himself but to the
One Who commissioned him. The double designation is by design as it
summarizes His true nature, Jesus (Iesous) being the Greek form of the
Hebrew name Joshua, both names meaning "salvation of Jehovah"
(Mt
1:21) and
representing His humanity (fully Man).
Christ (5547) (Christos
from chrio = to rub or anoint, consecrate to an office) refers to the
Anointed One and thus is a title of the Messiah, the divine One (fully God) the Jews
were looking for and of Whom the OT bore prophetic witness. Paul is clearly
declaring that he did not teach and write by his own authority but by
the dual yet totally unified authority of the Son, Christ Jesus, and God
the Father ('by the will of God"). Thus whatever follows in this letter
deserves to be heard and heeded.
Using this
combined title,
Christ Jesus, Paul affirms his
full conviction that the human Jesus was also the Christ,
the anointed
Messiah, the Bringer of messianic
redemption (cf
Acts 3:20)
and that this very One is He to whom Paul owes his allegiance as his
apostle.
Note also that the word
Christos is masculine singular genitive, the genitive case
signifying possession, the point being that Paul regarded himself as the
property of his Lord! Believers of every age should do no less, for as
Paul explains...
Or do you not know that your body is
a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and
that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body. (1Cor 6:19-20)
(Jesus) gave Himself for us, that He
might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself
a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (see note
Titus 2:14)
Jesus (2424) (Iesous) is
from the Hebrew Yeshu'a which means Yahweh is salvation. Jesus
called, saved and appointed Saul to be His apostle on a dusty
Damascus road declaring (in His explanation to Ananias)
"Go, for he is a chosen
(ekloge = choice, see word study on
eklego)
instrument (skeuos = vessel = literally of a hollow vessel for
containing things -- ponder that though in terms of Paul's call, in
terms of your call!) of Mine, to bear My name before (enopion =
literally in the face of and so in the presence of) the Gentiles (the
recipients of the great Ephesian epistle) and kings and the sons of
Israel for I will show him how much he must (dei = i t is necessary or
binding [from deo = to bind or tie, also root of doulos = bondservant!].
Dei means it is an obligation out of intrinsic necessity or
inevitability) suffer for My name's sake." (Acts 9:15-16) (Comment:
This passage explains "the will of God")
(The Spirit reaffirmed the call at
Antioch) And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the
Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to
which I have called them." (Acts 13:2)
(Paul affirmed the call) "And He said
to me, 'Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'" (Acts
22:21)
(And one more time Jesus said) 'But
arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you,
to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you
have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you
delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I
am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness
to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been
sanctified by faith in Me.' (Acts 26:16-18)
By (1223)
(dia) is a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act.
God's will was the conduit by which Paul was called to be an apostle.
Paul explained the
"genesis" of his apostleship in Galatians introducing himself as...
Paul, an apostle (not sent from men,
nor through [dia] the agency of man, but through [dia]
Jesus Christ, and God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead), (Gal
1:1)
Paul far
from boasting in his apostleship wrote to the Corinthians that Jesus...
appeared to James, then to all the
apostles and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared
to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be
called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (1Cor
15:7-9) (Comment: Herein lies a basic principle of spiritual
power - "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble",
James 4:6, cf note
1 Peter 5:5)
Will (2307)
(thelema) refers to God’s will as His
gracious disposition toward something. Thelema is God's will as an
inclination of pleasure towards that which is liked, which pleases and
creates joy. God’s will signifies His gracious disposition toward
something, what God Himself does of His own good pleasure. It means in essence that God started it
and He
completes it. Paul's life is a Christ-made life not a man-made life.
Paul's commission as apostle was God’s will done on earth."
Thelema is
used four times in Ephesians 1 - take a moment and meditate on these
uses in context (Ephesians
1:1,
Ephesians 1:5,
Ephesians 1:9;
Ephesians 1:11)
God (2316)
(theos) refers to the supreme divine being,
the true, living, and personal God. We honor God's name when we call Him
our Father live like His Son!"
TO THE SAINTS WHO ARE AT
EPHESUS AND WHO ARE FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS: (Romans
1:7;
1 Corinthians 1:2;
2 Corinthians 1:1)
(6:21;
Numbers 12:7;
Luke 16:10;
Acts 16:15;
1 Corinthians 4:12,17;
Galatians 3:9;
Colossians 1:2;
Revelation 2:10,13;
17:14)
(Acts
19:1-20)
Saints (40)
(hagios) refers to those set apart
for a specific purpose. In ancient Greek use, hagios originally was a
cultic concept, describing the quality possessed by things and persons
that could approach a divinity. Christians are saints, not in the
sense that they are very pious, but because of the new relationship they
have been brought into by God. It is not because of their own doing or
good works but on account of what Christ has done. They are set apart
for Him and His service.
S Lewis Johnson
said that...
The term “saints” refers to the
believer’s standing, rather than to his state, because all believers are
saints. It refers to his position, or our position as justified, rather
than to our progress as sanctified individuals. Every believer is a
saint. Of course, every believer ought to be saintly. Not every
believer, at every point of his live, is saintly, but we who are saints,
ought to live saintly. Matthew Henry said all Christians must be saints,
and if they come not under that character on earth, they will never be
saints in glory. Mr. Henry was trying to make a point that if we are
true believers in Jesus Christ, it will be manifested down here on earth
that we are saints. And if it’s not manifested down here on earth that
we are saints, then we cannot expect to become saints when we get to
heaven. (Ephesians 1:1-4 The Work of the Father
- Audio)
As an extension of the common cultic
use of the term hagios, the NT teaches that every believer
is a saint and considers the saint as one dedicated to God and reserved for
Him and His good purposes. Have you ever thought
of your daily existence as "reserved for God" (why
don't you write that phrase on some index cards and place them in your
car, next to the television tuner, on your desk next to your computer
screen at work and home, etc? May this reminder lead us to alter some of
our attitudes and actions? An interesting thought to ponder for those
bought with a price of the precious blood of Christ and who are no
longer their own.
Hagios includes the idea of taking something filthy, washing
it and setting it apart as something brand new and useful for a different
purpose. What a beautiful picture of our salvation in Christ of salvation.
We were dead in our trespasses and sins, filthy with sin as it were, but
according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by
the Holy Spirit we were saved. We were washed in the blood of Christ and
set apart to God. Now believing sinners are "holy" a distinctive
characteristic of their lives which marks their separation from the
world. Would others say that a "holy" character and conduct (not a
"holier than thou" attitude) characterizes your day to day life?
Paul identifies
the Ephesians as saints nine times (see notes
Ephesians 1:1,
1:15,
1:18;
2:19;
3:8,
3:18;
4:12;
5:3;
6:18).
In this epistle
the saints are Gentiles who once were "aint's" (separate
from Christ...having no hope, without God in the world!) darkened in
their understanding, filled with futile thoughts, the callousness of
their hearts leading them to give themselves over to sensuality for the
practice of every kind of impurity (practice did not them make
perfect!). And yet as Paul will soon explain to them that even before they were born
("chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" - see note
Ephesians 1:4),
God selected them out of the morass of mankind to be His holy vessels in
the midst of a crooked and perverse generation! This is grace,
unmerited, unearned, amazing grace!
Ray Stedman in his usual
pragmatic expositional style writes that...
Saints is a word at which
we all shudder a little. We don't like to be called saints because we
have such a plaster idea of what a saint is. We think of them as being
unreal -- so beatific, so holier-than-we, so unlike ordinary human
beings. But the saints of the New Testament are not that way; they are
people like us. Saints are people who are beset with struggles and
difficulties, who have disturbances at home, and problems at work, and
troubles everywhere else. They're normal people, in other words!
But one thing is remarkable about them: They are different. That is
really the basic meaning of this word saint. In the Greek it is a word
derived from the word for holy. And holy means distinct, different,
whole, belonging to God and, therefore, living differently. That is the
mark of the saint. It isn't that he doesn't have problems, only that he
approaches them differently. He handles them in a different way. He has
a different lifestyle. That is what Paul is talking about here. Their
characteristic is that they are faithful, which means, of course, that
they can't quit. That's what a Christian is -- a person who can't quit
being a Christian. A true Christian just can't stop! (Read the
entire sermon
Ephesians 1:1-14: God At Work)
(Copyright © 1972
Discovery Publishing,
a ministry of
Peninsula Bible Church.)
Hughes
comments on the fact that to call Gentiles saints was a radical
concept...
Because in the Greek translation of
the Old Testament the people of Israel, and sometimes even the angels,
were given the honored title “saints.” Therefore, as Marcus Barth
explains,
“By using the same designation … the
author of Ephesians bestows upon all his pagan-born hearers a privilege
formerly reserved for Israel, for special (especially priestly) servants
of God, or for angels.”
Applying the privileged word “saints”
to pagan Greeks was mind-boggling to those with a Jewish background.
Hebrew detractors considered it a rape of sacred vocabulary. But from
the Christian perspective it was a fitting word to celebrate the miracle
of God’s grace. (Hughes,
R. K.: Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ. Crossway Books)
Phillips
writes that
Ephesus rivaled Corinth as the "filth
capital" of the Roman world. People from all over the world came to
Ephesus to see the temple of Artemis and to patronize the sacred
prostitutes whose services were offered as the consummation of worship.
Sin was at the very heart of religion in Ephesus, as it is to this day
in Hinduism and other Eastern religions. In contrast, God's people were
to be saints- called-out ones- cleansed and made holy, separated unto
the true and living God and His Son by the power of the indwelling
Spirit of God. The true temple of God at Ephesus was to be found in the
bodies of the believers where Jesus was enshrined as Lord. It was to
these people- God's people- that Paul addressed his letter. (Phillips,
J. Exploring Ephesians. Kregel. 2002)
The concept of
that which is set apart from common or profane use for divine use
permeates the Scriptures. In the Old Testament many things and
people were divinely set apart by God for His own purposes. The
Tabernacle and Temple and all their furnishings -- supremely the Ark of
the Covenant and the holy of holies -- were set apart to Him. The tribe
of Levi was set apart for His priesthood, and the entire nation of
Israel was set apart as His people. The tithes and offerings of the
people of Israel consisted of money and other gifts specifically set
apart for God. Under the New Covenant, however, such holy things as the
Temple, priesthood, Ark, and tithes no longer exist. God’s only truly
holy things on earth today are His people, those whom He has sovereignly
and graciously set apart for Himself through Jesus Christ. The new
temple of God and the new priesthood of God are His church.
Hagios is
used throughout the New Testament to speak of anyone or anything that
represents God’s holiness: Christ as the Holy One of God, the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Father, holy Scriptures, holy angels, holy brethren,
and so on. The secular and pagan use pictured a person separated and
dedicated to the idolatrous "gods" and carried no idea of moral or
spiritual purity. The manmade gods were as sinful and degraded as the
men who made them and there simply was no need for a word that
represented righteousness! The worshipper of the pagan god acquired the
character of that pagan god and the religious ceremonies connected with
its worship. The Greek temple at Corinth housed a large number of
harlots who were connected with the "worship" of the Greek god. Thus,
the set-apartness or holiness of the Greek worshipper was in character
licentious, totally depraved, and sinful.
Hodge
writes that...
The term “saints” means those
who are cleansed by the blood of Christ and the renewal of the Holy
Ghost, and thus separated from the world and consecrated to God
(Hodge,
Charles: Commentary on Ephesians. Ages Classic Commentaries)
The fundamental ideas of a saint
include...
One who is separated from sin (cf
notes
Ro 6:11,
6:12,
6:13,
6:14)
One who then has the responsibility
to choose to consecrate themselves daily to God as "living sacrifices"
(see notes
Romans 12:1)
One who is devoted to His service
One who is a partaker of the divine nature (see notes
2 Peter 1:4)
One who continually chooses to abstain from worldly defilement (1Th
4:3
5:22, see
note
2 Timothy 2:19 ;
see note
1 Peter 2:11)
Although the
saint lives in the world, he or she must always in one sense be
different from the world and continually choose to separate himself or
herself from the world. His standards are not the world's standards. (click
for expository note on Romans 12:2 regarding not being squeezed into
world's mold) He is "in the world" but not "of the world".
A saint is
like a boat -- the boat's purpose is fulfilled when it is in the
water, but its function and usefulness deteriorates when water gets in
the boat. So too for saints when too much of the world gets into them.
Saints must keep their "vessels" in the water of this world but not let
the water of the world get into their "vessel"! Paul has a parallel
thought writing to young Timothy to take of the truth that
"if a man cleanses himself from these
(things, people that have an unholy influence), he will be a vessel for
honor, sanctified (hagiazo - verb form of saint), useful to the Master,
prepared for every good work." (see note
2 Timothy 2:21)
Spurgeon comments...
We are
chosen, not because we are holy, but that we
may be made holy. The election precedes the
character, and is indeed the moving cause in producing the character.
Before the foundation of the world, God chose us in Christ, "that we
should be holy and without blame before him in love." (see note
Ephesians 1:4) You see,
then, beloved brethren and sisters, the end for which the Lord chose you
by his grace.
There is a common misconception concerning the
Biblical meaning of the word saint. Many people have the notion
that a s aint
is a
special, higher order of Christians who have accomplished extraordinary
good deeds and lived an exemplary life. To the contrary, the Bible
teaches that sainthood is not an attainment (not some status a
person earns by performing good deeds, for example) but a state into which God
by grace through faith calls men and women from all stations of life. So
the next time you meet a believer, you could rightfully address him (or
her) as "Saint so-and-so"
but be ready for their reaction! Tragically, most believers from time to
time fail to think or act
like saints, in the popular sense. However, if they are genuine
believers, their designation as saints is independent of their behavior
because it refers to their identity and/or their position in Christ (although ideally our saintly position
should lead to saintly practices!). Being a saint has nothing to
do with one’s degree of spiritual maturity but refers to every
person who is saved for every saved person is set apart by God for Himself in His
Son Jesus Christ. Because God sees us as He sees His Son, as "those who
have been sanctified (consecrated, purified, made holy) in Christ Jesus,
saints by calling." (1Cor
1:2) Like all other believers, the Christians at Corinth were
not saints because of their spiritual maturity (cf.
1Cor 3:1–3), but because they were
“saints by calling,” a reference to their call to salvation.
Wuest
adds that...
The word saint is the
translation of a Greek word meaning "to set apart," in its verb, and
"set apart ones," in its noun form. The pagan Greeks set apart buildings
as temples, consecrating them for non-secular, and therefore, religious
purposes. These became the objects of veneration and reverence. Thus,
saints are believing sinners set apart from sin to holiness, set
apart from Satan to God, thus being consecrated for Gods’ sacred
fellowship and service. The word "saint" as a designation of a
Christian, brings at once to our attention the duty of every believer,
that of living a separated life. The words, "saint, sanctify,
holy," are all translations of this same Greek root. They all
speak of the absolute separation from evil and dedication to God, that
must always be true of the Christian believer." (Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the
Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)
Are (5607)
(eimi = to be) is the
present tense participle. So these saints literally are saints who are continually.
Continually what? or continually where? Well, in view of the fact that most manuscripts lack
the phrase "in Ephesus", it appears Paul is
saying that these are saints who continually are! Continually
are what?
Well they are "continually saints". What would be the point? The point
is that they aren't saints one day and not saints the next day but are
genuine. And not only that b | 
