Ephesians 1:15

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, WHEREFORE - because ye are in Christ sealed by His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). I ALSO - on my part, in return for God's so great benefits to you. AFTER (EVER SINCE) I HEARD - not implying that he had only heard of their conversion: an argument used by some against the address of this letter to the Ephesians (note, Ephesians 1:1); but referring to the report he heard, since being with them four or five years previously, as to their Christian graces. So in the case of Philemon, his "beloved fellow-labourer" (Philemon 1:4)....

15._Wherefore I also. _This thanksgiving was not simply an expression of his ardent love to the Ephesians. He congratulated them before God, that the opinion which he had formed respecting them was highly favorable. Observe here, that under _faith and love _Paul includes generally the whole excellence of Christian character. He uses the expression, _faith in the Lord Jesus, _(117) because Christ is the aim and object of faith. _Love _ought to embrace all men, but here the _saints _are particularly mentioned; because love, when properly regulated, begins with them, and is afterwards extended to all others. If our love must have a view to God, the nearer any man approaches to God, the stronger unquestionably must be his claims to our love....

15-23 God has laid up spiritual blessings for us in his Son the Lord Jesus; but requires us to draw them out and fetch them in by prayer. Even the best Christians need to be prayed for: and while we hear of the welfare of Christian friends, we should pray for them. Even true believers greatly want heavenly wisdom. Are not the best of us unwilling to come under God's yoke, though there is no other way to find rest for the soul? Do we not for a little pleasure often part with our peace? And if we dispute less, and prayed more with and for each other, we should daily see more and more what is the hope of our calling, and the riches of the Divine glory in this inheritance. It is desirable to feel the mighty power of Divine grace, beginning and carrying on the work of faith in our souls. But it is difficult to bring a soul to believe fully in Christ, and to venture its all, and the hope of e...

Verse 15. _FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS_] Cordial reception of the Christian religion, amply proved by their _love to all the_ _saints_-to all the _Christians_. Perhaps _love_ here implies, not only the kind affection so called, but also all the fruits of love-benevolence, and kind offices of every description....

WHEREFORE, I ALSO, AFTER I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS - This is one of the passages usually relied on by those who suppose that this Epistle was not written to the Ephesians. The argument is, that he writes to them as if they were strangers to him, and that it is not language such as would be used in addressing a people among whom he had spent three years; see the introduction, section 5. But this inference is not conclusive. Paul had been some years absent from Ephesus when this Epistle was written. In the difficult communication in those times between distant places, it is not to be supposed that he would hear often from them. Perhaps he had heard nothing after the time when he bade farewell to the elders of Ephesus at Miletus Acts 20, until the time here referred to. It would be, therefore, a matter of great interest with him to hear from them; and when in some

EXPOSITION EPHESIANS 1:1, EPHESIANS 1:2 ADDRESS AND SALUTATION. EPHESIANS 1:1 PAUL AN APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS. Paul's one but all-sufficient claim on the Ephesians is his relation to Christ: he is Christ's apostle, not only as sent forth by him, but also as belonging to him; elsewhere his servant or bondman. He makes no claim to their attention on the ground of his great experience in the gospel, his profound study of it, or even his gifts, but rests simply on his being Christ's apostle; thus recognizing Christ as the only Head of the Church, and source

WHEREFORE I ALSO,.... As well as others: AFTER I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS; who is the immediate object of faith, and a very proper and suitable one; having every thing in him that is agreeable to the case and circumstances of those that trust in him. And the grace of faith, which terminates on him, is a seeing him, a beholding the glory of his person, and the fulness of his grace; a going to him, and venturing on him; a laying hold upon him, and embracing of him; a committing all unto him, and a leaning and depending on him, and a living upon him, and a walking on in him. AND LOVE UNTO ALL THE SAINTS: whether Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, greater or lesser believers, of meaner gifts, or larger abilities; and which love was unfeigned, fervent, active, and laborious; and which is the evidence of regeneration, and without which a profession is in vain. These two graces, faith...

In this chapter, we see what Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has to say about the possessions and privileges of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:1. _Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ._ Brethren and sisters in Christ, this is a benediction for you as well as for the saints at Ephesus; it is for all «the faithful in Christ Jesus.» May you all have grace without measure, and may you all have «the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,» to «keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus»! Grace and peace are both to be had by believing in Jesus. Ephesians 1:3

EPHESIANS 1:15 kai. th.n avga,phn th.n eivj pa,ntaj tou.j a`gi,ouj {B} The shorter reading kai. th.n eivj pa,ntaj tou.j a`gi,ouj (î46 a* B P 33 1739 _al_) appears to be the result of an accident in transcription, occasioned by homoeoarcton (th.n … th,n). If, as some scholars have suggested, the shorter reading is original and the addition is derived from Colossians 1:4, h]n e;cete would have been inserted instead of the second th,n. The rearrangement of the sequence of the words so as to dispense...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE MASTERWORK OF GOD (1-3) 1. The Godhead at Work CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The introduction (Ephesians 1:1)_ 2. The great doxology (Ephesians 1:3) 3. The work of the Father (Ephesians 1:4) 4. The work of the Son (Ephesians 1:7) 5. The work of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) 6. The parenthetical prayer to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory (Ephesians 1:15)