Here is the Propositional Analysis of these verses again.
A warning for your sanity: If you have landed on this page first and have not read Gem 604 where I introduced Propositional Analysis and explained the principle and approach go and read that before continuing.
Praise the God
and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ
who blesses us
with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenlies
in Christ
just as he chose us
in Him
before the creation of the world
to be holy and without blame
before Him (in his presence) //
in love (because of his love)
having fore-ordained us (he had already decided)
to be adopted
through Jesus Christ
to Himself
according to the pleasure of His will
to the praise of the glory
of His Grace
which He graced to us
in the Beloved //
in Whom
we have redemption
through His blood
the forgiveness of sins
according to (because of)
the riches of His grace
which He made abound to us
in wisdom and
understanding
having made known to us
the mystery of His will
according to His good pleasure (kindness)
which He exhibited (purposed, set forth)
in Him
in the administration (dispensation, plan)
at the right time (in the fullness of time)
to bring everything
under the headship (authority)
of Christ
the in-the-heaven things and
the in-the-earth things
in Him //
in whom
we also have received
an inheritance
determined beforehand
according to the purpose
of the One working all things
in accord with the purpose (agreement)
of His will
so that we should be
to the praise of His glory
those who had previously
trusted in Christ //
in whom you also having heard
the word of truth
the good news
of your salvation
in whom having also believed
having been sealed
in the Spirit of Promise
the Holy One
who is a pledge
given in advance
of our inheritance
to the redemption
of the purchased possession
to the praise of His glory.
And now the same Propositional Analysis, but now with grammatical notes added in red.
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ [this is the only finite verb and therefore the only part that stands independent – all of what follows are the reasons for praising the Triune God]
who blesses us [the relative pronoun “who” refers to God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; note also the use of the full name]
with every spiritual blessing [this is the instrument of the blessing, the way in which we are blessed introduced by the preposition of instrumentation “with”]
in the heavenlies [indicating the nature or source of these blessings]
in Christ [the source is further clarified, all spiritual blessings are to be had in Christ – this little phrase is hugely important in Paul’s writings]
just as he chose us [kathos (Grk) is a very interesting conjunction which introduces the manner and timing of His choosing us – more when we handle this one]
in Him [this refers to the place or instrument of the choosing, the way or means in which we were chosen]
before the creation of the world [a temporal relative phrase indicating when this choosing occurred]
to be holy and without blame [an infinitive clause of purpose, the purpose of it all related to the choosing]
before Him (in his presence) [a locational or positional phrase referring back to being without blame in relation to the choosing by whom]
in love (because of his love) [this relative phrase goes all the way back to “the choosing” – no other link makes sense]
having fore-ordained us (he had already decided) [a past participle which should be interpreted as the time frame of when it took place]
to be adopted [infinitive clause of the purpose of the fore-ordaining]
through Jesus Christ [prepositional phrase of means or instrument, the means whereby the adoption was brought about]
to Himself [this element ties the purpose of it all back to God the Father i.e. through Christ to God the Father]
according to the pleasure of His will [a rather complicated (deep) phrase especially when linked with what follows and the will of God]
to the praise of the glory [more stacked phrases one on top of the other which need unpacking]
of His Grace [the final phrase here is the focus of the series that went before it]
which He graced to us [a relative clause referring back to the grace just mentioned; note the verbal use of “grace”]
in the Beloved // [all of this activity of grace and gracing was in the Beloved Son, what does that mean exactly?]
in Whom [the relative pronoun refers back to that loved Son,]
we have redemption [the source of redemption]
through His blood [the means whereby that redemption is even possible]
the forgiveness of sins [this noun phrase just sits there at the end of the string of thought not tied by a relative pronoun to anything]
according to (because of) [a relative phrase of cause and effect]
the riches of His grace [links back to the grace graced to us]
which He made abound to us [a relative of intensity referring to that same grace]
in wisdom and [qualifying the nature of the causation]
understanding [wisdom and understand acting as a dual]
having made known to us [this past participle of revelation is the first of a series of mysteries]
the mystery of His will [which links back to the pleasure of his will above and will continue through the letter]
according to His good pleasure (kindness) [a relative phrase of reason or causation]
which He exhibited (purposed, set forth) [referring back to the unfolding or manifestation of the grace]
in Him [the third reference to Christ as the centre of all operations]
in the administration (dispensation, plan) [a prepositional phrase referring to the magnitude of scope of the plan is unfolding IN CHRIST]
at the right time (in the fullness of time) [a temporal prepositional phrase setting the time frame for the action]
to bring everything [an infinitive clause of purpose or intent; the end point]
under the headship (authority) [which links to the continuing theme word of submission through the letter]
of Christ [He who is the essence and source of it all]
the in-the-heaven things and [a noun phrase of explanation of the “everything” referred to above]
the in-the-earth things [the second noun phrase of explanation of the “everything” referred to above – another dual]
in Him // [fourth reference of source]
in whom [referring back to the source of inheritance we have been given and begins the next stem]
we also have received [the referent of the relative phrase which introduces this statement]
an inheritance [all we receive by virtue of being in Christ]
determined beforehand [referring to the inheritance just mentioned and the timing of its setting]
according to the purpose [a relative phrase of the cause relating to the purpose which is subsequently revealed]
of the One working all things [the source of that purpose, the One who instigates the purpose]
in accord with the purpose (agreement) [the reason or causation of that same purpose]
of His will [notice the number of times the theme word “will” has been mentioned in these words of Paul as they tumble out, a theme word of Ephesians]
so that we should be [a relative clause of intent of purpose]
to the praise of His glory [the referent of that same purpose]
those who had previously [an explanation of the “we” two units before this]
trusted in Christ // [the means whereby we gain our inheritance and the fifth reference of source]
in whom [a relative pronoun referring to that same Christ]
you also having heard [“you” balanced against the “we”; faith comes by hearing]
the word of truth [Word of God,The Truth]
the good news (the Gospel)
of your salvation [noun phrase of apposition which adds detail to the nature of “the truth”]
in whom [this links to the “in whom” before this one, the two phrases form clausal adjectives describing this Christ’s activities]
having also believed [a past participle which forms of a series (with the one following) of the benefits of hearing the word of truth]
having been sealed [the second benefit in the series]
in the Spirit of Promise [the cause and effect of the sealing]
the Holy One [an appositional noun phrase adding clarification as to which “Spirit”]
who is a pledge [adjectival relative clause relating to the Spirit]
given in advance [the first of a series of linked phrases describing the inheritance mentioned before]
of our inheritance [linked to and describing the inheritance mentioned before]
to the redemption [the second reference in the series]
of the purchased possession [third in the series. Ah but what do they all mean when strung together]
to the praise of His glory. [bringing the whole one sentence statement to its resultant end point which brings us back to (parallels) the opening statement]
(Eph 1:3-14)
I plan to put it all together over the next days. I am sure I will not handle everything that can be commented on. Nor would you want me to. I think it would bore many of you. I seek to find the balance between detail and usefulness. I want this to be helpful for you and not a burden. I want to handle the detail and the complexity in Paul’s One Sentence statement in a clear and understandable way. Yet that is hard to do when Paul’s statement is not only deep and intricate but also emotional on his part and expressed in ways appropriate to Greek but not so appropriate in other languages. Hence a bit of mission on my part. I hope I am not biting off more than I can chew in attempting to do this FOR YOU. I really wish to do it for you and not AT YOU.
Hang in there. If this analysis and these notes are too much for you, then wait patiently for the explanation day by day as we tackle each part.
It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.
Mark Twain
The best translation is when you translate the Word of God into your daily life. You ought to be a living Bible.
Rick Warren
Only a fool knows everything, a wise man knows how little he knows.
Anon
There is a world of difference between talking TO or AT someone & talking WITH them.
Ian Vail