Latin-American Reformed Seminary Ephesians

May 2018

Lecture 5
Eph 3: 1 – 13

Intro.

- So,
o At the end of Ephesians chapter 2
 We saw
 Paul describe in detail
o The position of Gentiles
 Within the Church.
- Now to our minds
o We are so used
 To the parity/equality of members
 Within the Church
o That what Paul
 Said
 In chapter 2
 While undoubtedly
wonderful,
 Has lost some
of its impact.
- But in order
o To really understand
 Why Ephesians 2
 Is so important
o We have to get our minds back
 And try to get in to the
mindset
 Of the first
Ephesians to

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whom Paul is
writing.
- Remember
o This new church in Ephesus
 That was made up of
 Both Jew and Gentile
o Converts,
o Had come into existence
 In the midst of a culture
 In which Jew and Gentile
o Did not mix.
o The Jews treating the Gentiles
 With disdain because of
their immorality and
ritual uncleanness
 Often referring
to them simply
as
o “dogs”
o And the Gentiles
 Treating the Jews with
suspicion
 Because of
their failure to
assimilate to
the culture of
the Roman
cities in which
they lived,

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 And mocking
them for their
circumcision.
- And so
o What Paul said
 In Ephesians 2
 About the Gentiles
o Not only
 Being allowed
 To benefit from
the work of the
Messiah,
o But being so fully incorporated
 Within His Kingdom
 That there is
now no
distinction
 Between Jew
and Gentile,
o Would have been absolutely
mindblowing!
- I mean
o This absolutely
 Blew out of the water
 Any preconceived notions
o Of how Jew and Gentile related,
o It even blew out of the water
 Any notion
 That first century Jews had
o About how the Gentiles

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 Would benefit from the

Redeemer.

- Now
o It wasn’t news
 That Gentiles could benefit
 From the work of the Messiah.
o Really
 All along
 There has been an inclusion
o Of those outside
 Of the blood-line of
Abraham
 Within the covenant promises.
- Even in that first covenant
o With Abraham
 That really set the scene
 For the great Redemptive work of the
Messiah
o And described the Kingdom
that He would establish
o It was made clear
 That while a line of blessing
 Would descend from him
o Physically
 The Kingdom
 That would be established
o Through his descendants would
be one
 In which

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 “all the families

of the earth
shall be
blessed.” (Gen.
12: 3)
 Again in Genesis 17
o God says to Abraham
 Not just that He has
made him the Father of
one holy nation
 But that He had
made him “the
father of a
multitude of
nations.” (Gen.
17: 5)
- This was,
o Of course,
 Followed up
 In the covenant that God made with
Moses,
o As He rescued
 Abraham’s physical
descendants from
Egypt.
o And it was made clear
 In the provisions for the Passover
 That anyone
o Who put their trust in Israel’s
God

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 Would be included
within that covenant
community.
- In Exodus 12: 43ff.
o God said to Moses and Aaron

“All the congregation of Israel shall keep [the Passover]. If a stranger

shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all
his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall
be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns
among you.”

- So,
o As Israel
 Left Egypt
 To begin their life
o As not only the
 Covenanted people of
God
 But now the
 Constituted
people of God
 Established by
God as this
distinct, holy
nation, unique
among all the
nations of the
world,
 It was clear
 That there was to be a place

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o For the believing non-Jew.

 If someone from outside
 Of Israel
o Heard of Israel’s God
 And desired to turn
from their idols
 And put their faith in
Israel’s God,
 Then they were to be
welcomed in:
 They were to
be given the
sign of the
covenant
(circumcision)
o And their status went
 From being
 A foreigner
 To that of a sojourner.
 Someone who
had come and
pitched their
tent in Israel.
- In fact,
o As soon
o As Israel
 Entered into that land
 That God had promised to Abraham:
o As soon as they cross the
Jordan

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 To go in and conquer
the land of Canaan,
o We see
 That very thing happening.
 You remember
o In Joshua 2
 The spies go in to scope
out the land
 And they arrive
at Rahab’s
tavern in
Jericho,
- And Rahab comes to them
o And says

“I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you
has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away
before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the
Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to
the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and
Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our
hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you,
for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth
beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have
dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house,
and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother,
my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our
lives from death.” (Joshua 2:9-13)

- Rahab
o Had heard
 The reputation of Israel’s God.

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o She had heard of His commitment

 To save His people,
 And she put her faith in Him,
o And in doing so escaped the
judgment of God
 That was to come on
the land,
o And was welcomed into Israel.
- In fact
o So fully
 Was she integrated
 Into the life of Israel,
o That Matthew
 In the Genealogy
 With which he begins
o The Gospel he wrote to a
primarily Jewish audience
 Includes Rahab,
 A Canaanite
convert,
 In his genealogy.

- All that to say

o That the notion
 That Gentiles
 Could come in,
 And be part of the covenant
community,
o That they could be blessed
 Through faith in the
Messiah,

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o Was not
 In itself
 New.

- But the way

o That Paul describes
 It in Ephesians 2
 Was new.

- Nobody
o Expected
 This kind of inclusion.

- The Temple in Jerusalem

o Allowed Gentiles in,
 But Herod’s Temple
 That stood in Jerusalem
o As Paul was writing this letter,
o Included
 A low wall
 That surrounded the Temple precincts
 Which warned Gentiles
o That if they entered any further
 They would be killed.

- There was a concession

o That Gentiles could come in,
 But only so far.
 The sojourner
o Could only be allowed so far.

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- But what Paul described

o In Ephesians 2
 Was mind-blowing.
 There
o You remember
 He described
 A Gentile
inclusion
 That was so total
o That he said in
 Verses 14 & 15
 That in the
place of the
two
 (Jew and
Gentile)
 There was just
now one new
man.
- Jew and Gentile
o So indistinguishable
 That really
 The ethnic divisions
o Had gone,
o And there was now
 A new creature.
 No Jew
o No Gentile
 Just a Christian.

- Gentiles

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o Who had been so far off,

 Were now welcomed in.
 The dividing wall of hostility
o Torn down,
o And they
 Every bit
 As the Jews
o Welcomed in
 To the nearer presence
of God.
- Nobody expected that.
o Even,
 Paul says here in verse 10
 Even the angels
o (whom he refers to as the
“ruler and authorities in the
heavenly places”)
 Even they
o Didn’t fully comprehend
 The extent to which this
redemption
 Would bless the
whole world,
o Until it was revealed
 Through the
establishment of the
Church.
o Paul says
 Its only now
 In the New Covenant era

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o As these things are being made

apparent
 These mysteries are
being revealed
 That even the angels
o Are only now beholding the
true extent
 Of the glory of God
 In salvation.
- This is mind-blowing!
o It is paradigm-shifting!
 It is glorious.

- And Paul drives this home to his readers

o Because it was vital
 That they
 Both Jew and Gentile
o Understand
o That in Christ
 The lavish blessings
 Which he described in chapter 1
o Are for all who believe.
 Anyone, everyone
o Who puts their faith in Christ
 Blessed with the
gracious blessings of
God,
o Because
 As we saw
 Yesterday
o At the end of ch. 2

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 This fundamentally determines

 How we relate to each other
o Within the Church.

I. What does it say?

- And it seems
o That Paul
 Is so caught up
 With what he is writing
o That he just cannot get over it.
- In verse 1
o Paul begins to describe
 How he prays
 For his readers,

o But he cuts himself off.

 We won’t reach the prayer

 Until he circles back round to it
o In verse 14.

- It seems
o That when Paul
 Reaches the word Gentile
 At the end of verse 1
o That he is again
 Caught up
 In the wonder
o Of what he has just written.

- Or,

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o Perhaps more accurately,

 He is caught in the wonder
 That he, of all people, is the one
o Who has been commissioned
by God
 To explain this mystery.

- Paul was about to write

o About how he prays for his readers
 That they would grasp
 (v. 18) “what is the breadth and length
and height and depth, and [that they
would] know the love of Christ that
surpasses knowledge.”
o He was about to tell them
 That that he prays
 That they would get this,
o That they would grasp this
 And that it would
anchor their Christian
identities.
o We know that
 Because Paul will
 Go on to say that
o In verse 14,

o But here
 It seems that when get through the first half
sentence
 In verse 1
 He cuts himself off

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 As he marvels
o At that fact
 That it is he
 Of all people
 Who is the one
o To proclaim
 The revelation of this
mystery.
 That he is the one
o Through whom it is revealed
 That (v. 6) “the Gentiles
are fellow heirs,
members of the same
body, and partakers of
the promise in Christ
Jesus through the
gospel.”

- And that’s understandable

o Isn’t it?
 After all
 We could hardly think of anyone
o Less likely
 To be the herald
 Of full Gentile
inclusion
 Within the
Covenant
Community.

- Remember

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o This is the same Paul

 Who was once
 So part of the Jewish elite
o That he spearheaded
 The attempted
destruction of the
Church.

o It is this Paul
 Who is seen
 In Acts 7 (identified there as Saul)
o Overseeing the stoning of
Stephen
 The first Christian
martyr.
- In fact
o So determined
 Was Paul
 To do everything he could
o To destroy the church,
o When he was
 Converted
 He was on the road
o From Jerusalem to Damascus
 To take prisoner any
Christians he found in
that city.
o That’s a round-trip of
 300 miles
 On foot.

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o That would take a week to get

there
 And a week to get back!
- That’s the level
o Of Judaism
 In which Paul lived
 Before his conversion.

- You remember how Paul himself put it

o In Phil 3:
 “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of
Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of
Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a
persecutor of the church; as to righteousness
under the law, blameless.”

- If ever there was a man

o Who would have
 Defended
 The presence
o Of that wall in the Temple,
 Keeping the Gentiles
out,
o If ever there was a man
 Who would have sneeringly
 Referred
o To the Gentiles
 As uncircumcised dogs,
 It would have
been Paul.

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- But Paul says here

o It is he
 Of all people
 Who has been granted the stewardship
of God’s grace,
o It is he
 Who was commissioned by God in His grace
 To go and reveal the mystery
o Of Gentile inclusion,
 To make known
 What was previously
hidden
 That in Christ
 Any and all are
on equal
footing.
o The Gentiles are
 V. 6
 “fellow heirs,
members of the
same body, and
partakers of the
promise in
Christ Jesus
through the
promise.”
o It is he
 Who has been called by God
 To go and preach to the Gentiles (v. 8)
the unsearchable riches of Christ,

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o And to bring to light for

everyone [Jew and Gentile]
what is the plan of the mystery
hidden for ages in God who
created all things.”

- It was Paul
o Of all people
 Whom God called
 To distinguished as
o The “Apostle to the Gentiles.”
o In Acts 9
 As God called
 A skeptical and hesitant Ananias
o To go and proclaim the gospel
 To Paul
 Recently
blinded on the
road to
Emmaus,
 Ananias
 Says
o “Lord, I have heard from many
about this man, how much evil
he has done to your saints at
Jerusalem. And here he has
authority from the chief priests
to bind all who call on your
name.”

 But the Lord said to him,

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 “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of

mine to carry my name before the
Gentiles and kings and the children of
Israel. (Acts 9:13-15)

- It is Paul
o Who is the one
 Who would explain
 This mystery
o Who would
 In his letter to the Romans
 Give the most vivid descriptions and
explanations
o Of the place of both Jew and
Gentile
 Within the Kingdom of
God,
 Explaining (ch. 11) that while
o Ethnic Jews
 That those
 Physically
descended
from Abraham
 Are the vine of God’s
blessing
 The natural
route of the
blessings of the
covenant,

 The unbelieving Jew

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 Is like a branch
broken off
 And the believing
Gentile
 Is like a wild
shoot grafted
in.
 And that
o In Romans 9
 “not all who are
descended from Israel
belong to Israel, and
not all are children of
Abraham because they
are his offspring, but
‘Through Isaac shall
your offspring be
name.’ This means that
it is not the children of
the flesh who are the
children of God, but the
children of the promise
are counted as
offspring.”

- Paul
o Who once would have
 Ferociously
 Stated
 As the Pharisees did
 That his place in the Kingdom of God

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o Was, at least in part, because

he had Abraham as his father,
o Was now the one
 Used by God
 To proclaim to the world
o That it was not those physically
descended from Abraham
 That were his true
descendants and heirs,

o But those who were his children

 By faith.
 Sharing the
faith that
(Romans 4)
justified
Abraham
 And counted
him as
righteous.

II. What does it mean?

- What distracts Paul here
o From his prayer
 Is the realization
 That it is by grace
o That he has come to
understand these things,
 And it is by grace
 That He has been sent by God
o To proclaim these things.

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o That’s what he says

 In verse 7
 “of this gospel I was made a minister
according to the gift of God’s grace,
which was given me by the working of
his power.”
o The grace
 That he explained in chapter 1
 And now emphasizes in verse 11
o That was according to the
predestination of God.

- The only reason

o That Paul
 Was a minister of this gospel,
 The only reason
o That he was the one to
proclaim this mystery now
revealed,
 The abundance of
God’s grace to all
 Both Jew and
Gentile,
 Was because God
o In all eternity
 Had purposed
 To bring him
out of his
Jewish
blindness

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 And reveal to
him the wonder
of the extent of
Christ’s saving
work.

- You see
o What Paul is doing here
 Is simply another aspect
 Of what he has been doing
o All along
 Since he began this
letter.

o He is emphasizing
 The absolute dependence upon the Christian
 On the gracious work of God
o To open our eyes
 To behold His glory.

- That was the foundation

o That Paul laid
 In ch. 1
 Wasn’t it?
 As he used the richest of language
 To describe
o The place of the believer
 Before God:
 “blessed… in Christ with
every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places”

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 “In love He predestined

us for adoption as sons
through Jesus Christ”
 “In [Christ] we have
obtained an
inheritance”
o It’s what he filled out
 In ch. 2
 As he drove home to us
o Our utter
 Unworthiness
 To receive any
of this.

o Describing us as
 “dead in the trespasses
and sins in which we
once walked”
 “by nature children of
wrath”
o An unworthiness
 That he has just applied
 Specifically, to his Gentile, Roman-
background believers,
 But which he now applies to Himself
 The quintessential first-century Jew.

- Paul gets distracted

o From his train of thought
 Because he is captivated
 By the grace of God

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o That has now been made

manifest
 In the Church,
 The grace of God
o That goes to every single
person
 Jew and Gentile
 Religious and Irreligious
 Black, White
 Asian, African,
Latin American,
 Rich, Poor,
 Dignified, disgraceful
 And says to them
 That in Christ
there is a
Kingdom for
them
 In which there
lies riches
beyond our
comprehension
 A safety and
security that we
cannot even
dream of,
 And all that we
have to do to
enter it

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o Is trust
in
Christ
o And
turn
from
our sin.

- And in this distraction

o That messes with any neat outline
 He may have had
 For this letter,
o He models for us
 What should be our response
 To beholding this multifaceted grace.
o This grace should distract us!

- Have you ever had an experience

o Where you are hiking
 Or walking along the beach
 Or in a forest,
o And your talking
 With a friend
 And you suddenly
o You see something that is so
magnificently beautiful
 That you just
 Stop talking
 And cant really
remember
what it was

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that you were

talking about
 On the way?
- That’s what happens to Paul here.
o He is working through his outline.
 He is bringing the truths of the Gospel
 Down to bear on our lives,
 He is funneling in
 On how the Indicatives
o Of chs. 1 and 2
 Drive the imperatives ,
o And he writes
 Ch.3 v. 1
 And he forgets what he is talking about!

 I think
o We can imagine Paul
 If he was writing this
himself
 Dropping his
pen for a
moment,
o Or, if he was dictating this
 Just trailing off for a
while,
 And sitting
amazed
 That he of all
people
 Can say

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 That he is a
prisoner of
Christ Jesus on
behalf of the
Gentiles.
- But I think he leaves this in his letter,
o Because he wants his readers to see it.
 He leaves this
 Even though it messes with his outline
o Because he wants to model for
us
 What is the normal
reaction
 To the grace of
God that we
have been
shown.
 We should see this grace
 And stand dumb-founded
o Distracted
 Before it.

- This lavish redemption

o Should amaze you.
 And if it doesn’t
 Come back here to Eph 1 and 2
o And sit and meditate.
o Soak in this Gospel
 And remember
 All that we have been given in Christ.

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o Remember how low you were

in your sin
o Remember how much you have
been given in Christ.

- The Puritan, Thomas Watson

o “The reason we come away so cold from reading the
word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fires
of meditation.”
 Come here
 Out of the cold storm
o Of a world of sin and distraction
 And warm yourself at
this fire,
 Until you heart
melts again
 And you see
the over-
whelming love
of God towards
sinners.

Conc.

- As Paul wrote this

o He sat
 Imprisoned by the Romans,
o It was the latest installment
 Of a saga
 That had begun in Jerusalem
o In Acts 21

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 When Paul had been

accused of bringing
Gentiles into the
Temple.
- That’s what he refers to
o In verse 1
 When he says that he is
 “a prisoner for Christ Jesus
o On behalf of you Gentiles.”
o It was the proclamation
 Of this mystery
 That had resulted
o In his roman imprisonment.
- But Paul says
o Here in verse 13
 To his Ephesian readers
o “don’t lose heart over this”
 Because everything else
 Even suffering and imprisonment
o Fades into irrelevance
 When compared to this
Gospel.

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