Every Spiritual Blessing: Ephesians 1:3

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3 ESV).

Before Paul begins to narrate descriptively the spiritual blessings of God, he first points us to the God of particularity in Jesus Christ. Before we know that God is the Father of all, we need to first know that he is the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is through his beloved Son we have been adopted into his family.  The Christian God is not a Greek god who is transcendent to a point where he does not get involved with human affair; He is not a divine force above our heads. Rather, “He is the God who made the world, and who has now made himself known in and through Jesus. As far as Paul is concerned, any picture of God which doesn’t now have Jesus in the middle of it is a distortion or a downright fabrication.”[1]

The word euvloghto,j can be understood as “blessed” or “praised.” “Praised be to the God…” is preferable. God does not need to be blessed; we need to be blessed. Rather, we don’t need to be praised, but God is worthy of our praise. God is the object of our praise; we are the object of his blessing. We praise for God’s blessings in Christ.

Paul introduces two of his letters with an introductory blessing (Eph. 1:3-14; 2 Cor. 1:3-7).[2] Ephesians 1:3-14 is considered as a “declarative praise” that is formed in one long, single sentence (in Greek) in which God’s blessings, such as election, adoption, forgiveness of sin, etc… are vividly described by Paul. This eulogy is Paul’s doxological introduction to the entire letter. At the end of the so-called “doctrinal section” (Ephesians 1-3), Paul concludes with another doxology: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20-21).

As John Piper says, “God gets the glory; we get the mercy.”

The term “spiritual” (pneumatiko,j) is an adjective for the Spirit, that is, “pertaining to or belonging to the Spirit.”[3] In this vein, spiritual blessings mean blessings that pertain to the Spirit. God has blessed us in Jesus Christ with every spiritual blessing. The role of the Spirit is not out of the picture. The rest of the sentence shows that this whole business of praising God for his blessings toward us is trinitarian through and through (God the Father, 1:4-6; God the Son, 1:7-12; God the Spirit, 1:13-14). Gordon Fee points out that “the use of this adjective…indicates that the emphasis is on the nature of the blessings, rather than their source.”[4] Either these blessings are spiritual or the Spirit is the source of them, the Spirit is at work. As Fee rightly puts, “The Spirit is the present means whereby God appropriates to the believing community the ‘blessings’ that flow from the redemptive work of Christ.”[5]

This eulogy is formed as an inclusio and bracketed by the Spirit.[6] At the end of the section, God the Spirit is the Spirit of the promise, who is “a deposit on our inheritance.” He serves as the guarantee of our future salvation (1:13-14). Our receiving of God’s blessings in Jesus Christ can only become a reality through the Spirit. The Spirit actualizes the blessings of God in us. J. I. Packer writes:

The Christian life in all its aspects—intellectual and ethical, devotional and relational, upsurging in worship and outgoing in witness—is supernatural; only the Spirit can initiate and sustain it. So apart from him, not only will there be no lively believers and no lively congregations, there will be no believers and no congregations at all. But in fact the church continues to live and grow, for the Spirit’s ministry has not failed, nor ever will, with the passage of time.[7]

We keep in step with the Spirit in ministry. We listen to him, worship him, and obey him.

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[1] N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), p. 5.

[2] Peter T. O’Brien points out the difference between an introductory thanksgiving and an introductory blessing or eulogy. He writes, “While his [Paul] introductory thanksgivings focus on God’s work in the lives of others, his eulogies praise god for blessings in which he himself participates.” “Benediction, Blessing, Doxology, Thanksgiving,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne, et. al. (Leicester: InterVarsity Press; Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 68.

[3] Gordon D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), p. 666.

[4] Ibid., p. 666.

[5] Ibid., p. 667.

[6] Clinton E. Arnold, Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), p. 78.

[7] J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in our Walk with God (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005), p. 15.

A Missional Reading of Ephesians 2:19-22

In the book of Ephesians, the mystery of God[1] means that “the Gentiles are being incorporated into the people of God, along with the believers among the Jewish people, on the basis of the work of Jesus Christ.”[2] And, now, the mystery of God is made known through the church that is made up of Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 3:10).[3] The mystery of God in Christ is revealed through the unity of the Spirit-led church (Eph. 4:3).

This new community created by the triune God is a trinitarian community and a holy temple in the Lord (Eph. 2:19-22): 1) This new temple is made up of Jews and Gentiles who are equal members of God’s household; 2) Christ is the “cornerstone” of this new temple along with “the foundation of the apostles and prophets”; and 3) This new temple is where God’s Spirit dwells.

This new trinitarian community created as “one new man” (Eph. 2:15) by the triune God has a missional character as she lives out her missional essence, which is the unity of the church. In Eph. 2:19-22, the church is most explicitly described as the eschatological temple. Such concretized, reconciled community made up of two racial groups (Jews and Gentiles) in Ephesus is “the actual beginning fulfillment o the latter-day temple prophecies from the Old Testament.”[4] And this temple is not a building, but an eschatological, moving temple. Michael Goheen says that “The new temple of God’s presence established in the midst of the nations is not a building; it is a people who are given the new life of Christ’s resurrection as they are filled with the Holy Spirit.”[5] This eschatological temple is not a building, but a missional people living in the midst of all nations. This temple is a moving temple because it is made up of a missional people.

The church as an eschatological temple must reflect what the church is, which is the unity of the church. The unity of the church is not what the church does (missional act), but what the church is (missional essence). And the foundation of the unified essence of the church is the Tri-unity of the trinitarian Persons who are missionary by nature.[6]

This new temple of the Lord is no longer situated in one location in the world. Rather, such eschatological temples are many in many locations among all nations. Instead of people coming to the one and only temple in Zion in the Old Testament (centripetal), the temples of the Lord, that are multicultural communities, are moving out to all nations and manifest the presence of the Lord as the body of Christ (centrifugal). Michael Goheen rightly notes that “There is no longer one temple manifesting God’s presence among one nation in one location in the world. Now these temples are established throughout the world, in many multicultural communities that fulfill God’s original intention to manifest his presence through their peoples’ holy lives.”[7]

These multi-colored communities are located in all nations to be the salt and the light of the world. As the salt and the light, the missionary task of the church is to live out its missional essence: the unity of the church, which is a provisional reality on earth as it is in heaven. It is a foretaste of what is to come. The concrete historical reconciliation of the church is a provisional sign of the cosmic reconciliation, as described in Eph. 1:10—“As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

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[1] The mystery of God “generally refers to God’s decisive action in the sending of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Savior and Lord, as the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation.” Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008), pp. 146-147.

[2] Ibid., p. 147.

[3] “Through the church signifies that the very existence of this new multiracial community in which Jews and Gentiles have been brought together in unity in the one body is the manifestation of God’s richly diverse wisdom.” Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester: Apollos; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), p. 246.

[4] G. K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, New Studies in Biblical Theology (Leicester: Apollos; Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004), p. 260.

[5] Michael W. Goheen, A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011), p. 178.

[6] “The unity of the triunity lies in the eternal perichoresis of the trinitarian persons. Interpreted perichoretically, the trinitarian persons form their own unity by themselves in the circulation of the divine life.” Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God, trans. Margaret Kohl (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993), p. 175.

[7] Goheen, A Light to the Nations, pp. 178-179.

The Work of Memory: Ephesians 2:11

The focal point of Eph. 2:1-10 is not “by grace you have been saved through faith…” (2:8-9). 2:8-9 is incomplete without 2:10: we who are God’s workmanship are called to do good works. Being justified by grace through faith is the foundation of any good works; the work of sanctification is the natural fruit of Christ’s justifying work in Christian living. Divine good work always precedes human good works. Because of God’s good work in Christ, we are saved through faith by grace. Such a gift of God eliminates any possibility of human boasting. The i[na clause (2:9b: in order that no one can boast) rules out any human endeavor in terms of working for salvation. As Peter O’Brien writes, “The divine intention in providing salvation apart from any human effort or achievement is to exclude all human boasting…As Paul attacks the doctrine of justification by works, so he opposes all boating based on self-trust.”[1]

I am often aware of the conjunction Dio. (therefore) in the beginning of 2:11, meaning that 2:11-22 is connected to 2:1-10. But I usually separate the two sections and interpret them separately. Today, I received a book that I ordered a few days ago in my mailbox: Stephen E. Fowl, Ephesians: A Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012). I read the section on Eph. 2:11-22. Fowl writes:

 

Believers are participants in God’s new creation and that such participation enjoins walking in good works (cf. 2:10). Verse 11 would thus indicate that the immediate good work in view is the work of memory. The Ephesians are challenged here to remember their past. Indeed, the call here may be to remember their past in a new way. In this respect one can think of “remembering” as an example of being “transformed by the renewing of your minds,” as advocated in Rom. 12:2. Whatever else might be involved, the renewal of one’s mind must include a repair or restoration of one’s memory (p. 85).

I find the sentence, “the immediate good work in view is the work of memory,” intriguing. I often understand good works in terms of doing works. I never look at it from the angle of remembering. The first good work that the Ephesians are called to do is to remember: once you were Gentiles in the flesh…but now in Christ… (2:11-13). Our good work, first and foremost, is to remember the surprising work of God in Christ in our past. Our unchristian past indicates nothing but human flaws and divine grace. The first task of our Christian present is to remember our weaknesses and his gracious sufficiency.

To remember what God has done for us in Christ is a good work itself.   

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[1] Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester: Apollos; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), p. 177.

我們的女兒：林盼

盼望是神學的語言。盼望與希望不同。後者祗是個人願望，心中所望能否發生實屬巧合或跟運氣有關。前者寄望於走在我們前面的上帝，藉著祂的死和復活，引進終末不可見的將來。因祂的復活，不可能的成為可能。不斷期盼來臨中的上帝，祂的道成肉身正說明這位上帝願意介入人的生活中。所以，現在的境況，好壞與否，只是暫時性的、片段性的、不完全的。

盼望是神學的語言，因為盼望是向前觀看的思考方式，持之以恆地期盼永遠走在祂子民前面的上帝。期盼上帝，即是期盼不能看見的將來。這是反人類天性的，因人只看現在和滿足於現在。盼望叫人學習不專注自己，轉向那位信心的創始者和完成者耶穌（來12：2）。看不見的將來叫人不安；人的安穩來自賜予平安的上帝。盼望的人活在中間，「忍耐等候。」「我們得救是在乎盼望；只是所見的盼望不是盼望，誰還盼望他所見的呢 ？ 但我們若盼望那所不見的，就必忍耐等候」（羅8：24-25）。盼望的人不單期盼將來，亦勇於活在當下，「忍耐等候。」這種盼望式的信仰，讓人經歷上帝，生命得到塑造。「我們又藉著他，因信得進入現在所站的這恩典中，並且歡歡喜喜盼望上帝的榮耀。 不但如此，就是在患難中也是歡歡喜喜的；因為知道患難生忍耐， 忍耐生老練，老練生盼望； 盼望不至於羞恥...」（羅5：2-5a）。

在《莫特曼神學》（台北：禮記，2002）一書中，林鴻信教授說：「基督教信仰的本質是人的盼望與上帝的應許，上帝一直應許，人則不斷盼望，盼望與應許之間不斷互動，這不是出於經驗，反而經常與人的經驗矛盾衝突。出於信仰「期盼」（anticipate) 上帝的應許，有如預先使用上帝的應許，亦積極參與上帝的未來，是進取式的盼望。」（頁92-93）上帝不斷應許；人不斷盼望。我期盼我和我家定意事奉耶和華，不斷進入這種神人互動關係中。這互動不一定帶來人的安穩，反而引出更多人的矛盾。但是，人生不是追求安穩；而是追求上帝自己。

「要先求他的國和他的義。。。」（太6:33）「求」在原文是放在句子的首位，命令語句。基督徒的人生要先求什麽是清楚不過的。她的出生是我和我家一個記號。我期盼我和我家不斷「求」基督要我們先「求」的。

這是爲什麽她的名字只有一個單字：盼。單單事奉祂，專一尋求祂，不斷盼望祂。