Ephesians 1:3

It may be noted, as bearing on the question of the general or special character of this Epistle, that (with the single exception of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, which may be looked upon as virtually a continuation of the First Epistle) all St. Paul’s Epistles addressed to particular churches pass at once from the salutation to refer to the particular circumstances, gifts, and needs of the Church, generally in the form of thanksgiving and prayer, sometimes (as in Galatians 1:6) in rebuke. In St. Peter’s First Epistle, on the other hand, addressed to those “scattered” through many churches, we have an opening exactly similar to the opening of this Epistle. There is, indeed, here a thanksgiving below (Ephesians 1:15), but it is entirely general, belonging to the whole Church.

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. — On this phrase (used in Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 11:31; 1 Peter 1:3) see Note on Romans 15:6. It is, however, to be noted here, that in the Vatican MS. the words “and Father” are omitted, and that the phrase “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ” occurs below in Ephesians 1:17.

Blessed be... who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. — The frequent phrase “Blessed be God” (Luke 1:68; Romans 1:25; Romans 9:5; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 11:31; 1 Peter 1:3) is here used with an unique antithesis. We can “bless” God only in thanksgiving of heart and voice, with which He deigns to be pleased, as He “rejoices over the works of His hands.” God blesses us in real and life-giving “spiritual blessing,” i.e., blessing of the gift of the Spirit, for which we can return nothing except thanksgiving. So in Psalms 116:12, the natural question of the thoughtful soul — “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me?” — is answered simply by the words, “I will receive the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.”

Who hath blessed us... in heavenly-places. — It should be, who blessed us (once for all), in the election and predestination spoken of in the next verse. If this be noted, the sense of the phrase “in heavenly places” becomes far clearer. It has been doubted whether we ought to supply the word “places” or “things” (as in John 3:12) in rendering this phrase, which is peculiar to this Epistle, and used in it no less than five times. In three out of the other four places (Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10) the local sense is manifest; in the fourth (Ephesians 6:12) and in this it might be doubtful. But (1) it is altogether unlikely that so unique a phrase would be used in two different senses; (2) the original word for “heavenly” has most properly and most usually a local meaning; (3) the transference of the thoughts to heaven above suits especially the whole tone of this Epistle and the parallel Epistle to the Colossians; and (4) the local sense agrees best with the context here, for the Apostle is speaking of the election “before the foundation of the world” as made by the foreknowledge of God in heaven, where Christ is “in the beginning with God.”

It has been noticed here that we have one of those implicit references to the Holy Trinity — the blessing from God the Father, in Christ, and by the Spirit — with which St. Paul’s Epistles abound.

In Christ — i.e., in the unity with Christ, which is “the life eternal,” ordained for us in the foreknowledge of God, and viewed as already existing. (See the whole of John 17, especially Ephesians 1:21.)

(3) In Ephesians 1:15, this introductory chapter ends in a prayer for the enlightenment of the readers of this Epistle, that they may understand all the fulness of the blessings of the gospel. In accordance with the heavenward direction of the thought of the whole Epistle, these blessings are viewed in their future completeness of glory and power, of which the present exaltation of the risen Lord to the right hand of God, as the Lord of all creatures, and the Head of the Church His body, is the earnest and assurance.