Ephesians 1:8-10 In Light Of Its Immediate Contextual Meaning And Redemptive- Historical/Canonical Context: God Getting Glory For Himself Through The Work Of The Redeemer And Reconciler Of All Things -- By: Richard C. Barcellos

Journal: Reformed Baptist Theological Review
Volume: RBTR 07:1 (Jan 2010)
Article: Ephesians 1:8-10 In Light Of Its Immediate Contextual Meaning And Redemptive- Historical/Canonical Context: God Getting Glory For Himself Through The Work Of The Redeemer And Reconciler Of All Things
Author: Richard C. Barcellos


Ephesians 1:8-10 In Light Of Its Immediate Contextual Meaning And Redemptive- Historical/Canonical Context: God Getting Glory For Himself Through The Work Of The Redeemer And Reconciler Of All Things

Richard C. Barcellos

Richard C. Barcellos, Ph.D., is a pastor of Heritage Baptist Church, Owensboro, KY, and Administrative Assistant to the Dean and Resident Associate Professor of New Testament Studies at the Midwest Center for Theological Studies, Owensboro, KY (www.mctsowensboro.org).

The Bible is ultimately about God getting glory for himself through the work of Christ, the mediator between God and men, the redeemer and reconciler of all things created. In this article, we will analyze Eph. 1:8-10, seeking to do exegetical justice to it in its immediate context and then place it in its wider redemptive-historical/canonical context. This exercise will give some warrant to the claim that the Bible is about God getting glory for himself through what he does in his Son. We will conduct ourselves as follows: I. Outline of Eph. 1:3-14, II. Exegetical Analysis of Eph. 1:8-10, III. Eph. 1:8-10 in Redemptive-Historical/Canonical Context, and IV. Conclusion.

I. Outline Of Ephesians 1:3-14

In the exegetical analysis in the next section, we will work within the confines of the outline below.

Thesis: God the Father is to Be Praised for Redemptive Blessings (1:3-14)

A. The controlling assertion concerning praise to God the Father for redemptive blessings (1:3)1

B. The multi-faceted elaboration concerning praise to God the Father for redemptive blessings (1:4-14): καθὼς (“just as”)…

1. God the Father is praised for election (vv. 4-6)

2. God the Father is praised for redemption through the Son (vv.7-12)

a. Because of the application of soteric redemption (v. 7)

b. Because of the lavished grace-knowledge of God’s good pleasure in the cosmic recapitulation/summing-up of all things in Christ (vv. 8-10)

c. Because of the inheritance of applied redemption for believing Jews (vv. 11-12)

3. God the Father is praised for sealing by the Spirit (vv. 13-14)

Notice that the spec...

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