All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. God has now revealed to us His mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfil His own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan. God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.
Ephesians 1:3-14
Ian, I don’t know what is going on here. You told us yesterday that we were going to start to analyze one sentence over the next few days. You have called this Gem: Looking at one sentence. But I count 15 sentences in what you have dished up for us. Is the problem with you or with Paul?
Ephesians 1:3-14 is indeed one Greek sentence. The difficulty is translating it as one sentence. It is not possible nor does it read well when we try to do that. Take a look at this passage in as many versions as you have at your disposal and see how they each handle it. That should hold you for a day or more. More in the next Gem.
I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.
Plutarch
No human being is always right. No human being is always wrong either. Always be willing to listen & learn.
Kenny Goh
Never Get Caught Up In The Trap Of Knowing Too Much Yet Doing Too Little.
Robb Thompson