EPHESIANS: Guaranteed Inheritance
EPHESIANS Number 13:
Guaranteed Inheritance
Ephesians 1:11–14 (KJV 1900)
11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Saints, you’ll be very glad to know that God decided beforehand (predestinated) to bequeath to us an inheritance like no other. Verse 11 tells us that God does as He pleases. It says that He “works all things after the counsel of His own will.” He keeps His own counsel, and whose could possibly be better? In His wisdom, He decided beforehand that we should be redeemed, made acceptable, and reconciled to the relationship He designed us to have with Him. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown (JFB) * points out that this is not some capricious or arbitrary choice but rather, “infinite wisdom (“counsel”) joined with sovereign will.” This is love, mercy, and grace on His part.
This wonderful thing was done, we are told, for “the praise of the glory of His grace.” This enigmatic phrase is found only here in Ephesians where it occurs three times with slight variation. Once in Ephesians 1:6, here in verse 12, and again in verse 14. The praise of God’s glory is praise of God Himself, of course, and He alone is worthy of the worship of such praise. I am struck here by the phrase “the praise of the glory of His grace.” Isn’t it exactly what happens when the Lord becomes known by us? We are struck by, and we brag about His grace. His grace is glorious in giving us such an overflowing abundance of blessings. Indeed, every spiritual blessing, as we saw at the beginning of our study in Ephesians.
The verse continues, “who first trusted in Christ. Paul refers to those who first trusted in Christ as “we.” He is speaking here of the Jews. In Romans 1:16 (KJV) he says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Then, verse 13 continues with, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” This plural form of “you” is referring to the Gentiles, which would have constituted most of the people in Ephesus and any other churches to which this letter was delivered. Like our little church right here, for example.
I’m so glad Paul did this, here and in other places in his writings. It fosters certainty that both groups are included in the good news of Christ in us, the hope of glory. This is so important. There is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” as we are told later in this very letter in chapter 4 verse 5.
Our text continues, “in whom also (the Lord Jesus) after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
Noah and his family, having entered the Ark, were sealed inside by God. That shadow was cast by this reality. Having been placed into Christ, God has sealed us inside with His Spirit. Like Noah, we were baptized out of the old creation and into a new world.
We read about this in a number of places.
Romans 6:3–4 (KJV) says it this way, “3Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Then Colossians 1:12–13 (KJV) says, “12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
Colossians 3:3–4 (KJV) adds this aspect, “3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
Finally, Galatians 2:20 (KJV) “20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
The Spirit of God, the self-same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead (see Romans 8:11), has been given to us as a down-payment, or deposit in earnest, guaranteeing our inheritance. Guaranteeing that we have obtained eternal Life. He will never leave us and He will see that we experience the eventual culmination and consummation of eternally living in glorified bodily form, free from evil and corruption of every kind with our Lord and Savior.
*Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 2:342.
