Ephesians 1 - 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians

1 1 After the salutation, 4 he entreateth of the free election of God, 5 and adoption. 7, 13 from whence man’s salvation floweth, as from the true and natural fountain: and because so high a mystery cannot be understood, 16 he prayeth that the full, 20 knowledge of Christ, may by God be reavealed unto the Ephesians.

¹ Paul ^[a]an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the ^(A)Saints, which are at Ephesus, and to the ^[b]faithful in Christ Jesus:

² Grace be with you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

^{3 (B)[c]}Blessed be God, ^[d]and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^[e]which hath blessed us, with ^[f]all spiritual blessing in ^[g]heavenly things in ^[h]Christ,

^{4 [i]}As he hath chosen us in ^[j]him, before the foundation of the world, ^[k]that we ^[l]should ^[m]be holy, and without blame ^[n]before him in love:

^{5 [o]}Who hath predestinated us, to be adopted through Jesus Christ ^[p]in himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

^{6 [q]}To the ^[r]praise of the glory of his grace, ^[s]wherewith he hath made us freely accepted in his beloved.

^{7 [t]}By whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to his rich grace:

^{8 [u][v]}Whereby he hath been abundant toward us in ^[w]all wisdom and understanding,

⁹ And hath opened unto us the ^[x]mystery of his will ^[y]according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in him,

^{10 [z]}That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might ^[aa]gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven, and which are in earth, even in Christ:

^{11 [ab]}In whom also we are chosen when we were predestinated according to the purpose of him, which worketh ^[ac]all things after the counsel of his own will,

¹² That we, which ^[ad]first trusted in Christ, should be unto the praise of his glory:

^{13 [ae]}In whom also ye have trusted, after that ye heard the ^[af]word of truth, even the Gospel of your salvation, wherein also after that ye believed, ye were ^[ag]sealed with the holy ^[ah]Spirit of promise,

¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance, for the ^[ai]redemption of that liberty purchased unto the praise of his glory.

^{15 [aj]}Therefore also after that I heard of the faith, which ye have in the Lord Jesus, and love toward all the Saints,

¹⁶ I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,

^{17 [ak]}That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, that Father of ^[al]glory, might give unto you the Spirit of wisdom, and revelation through the ^[am]knowledge of him,

¹⁸ That the eyes of your understanding may be lightened, that ye may know what the ^[an]hope is of his calling, and what the riches of his glorious inheritance is in the Saints,

^{19 [ao]}And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us, which believe, ^(C)according to the working of his mighty power,

^{20 [ap]}Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his ^[aq]right hand in the heavenly places,

²¹ Far above all principality, and power, and might, and domination, and every ^[ar]Name, that is named, not in this world only, but also in that that is to come,

^{22 [as]}And hath made all things subject under his feet, and hath given him over all things to be the ^[at]head to the Church,

²³ Which is his body, even the ^[au]fullness of him that filleth all in all things.

Footnotes

1. Ephesians 1:1 The inscription and salutation, whereof we have spoken in the former Epistles.
2. Ephesians 1:1 This is the definition of the Saints, showing what they are.
3. Ephesians 1:3 The first part of the Epistle, wherein he handleth all the parts of our salvation, propounding the example of the Ephesians, and using divers exhortations, and beginning after his manner with thanksgiving.
4. Ephesians 1:3 The efficient cause of our salvation is God, not considered confusedly and generally, but as the father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Ephesians 1:3 The next final cause, and in respect of us, is our salvation, all things being bestowed upon us which are necessary to our salvation, which kind of blessings is heavenly and proper to the elect.
6. Ephesians 1:3 With all kind of gracious and bountiful goodness which is heavenly indeed, and from God only.
7. Ephesians 1:3 Which God our Father gave us from his high throne from above: or because the Saints have those gifts bestowed on them, which belong properly to the citizens of heaven.
8. Ephesians 1:3 The matter of our salvation is Christ, in whom only we are endued with spiritual blessing and unto salvation.
9. Ephesians 1:4 He declareth the efficient cause, or by what means God the Father saveth us in his Son: Because saith he, he chose us from everlasting in his Son.
10. Ephesians 1:4 To be adopted in him.
11. Ephesians 1:4 He expoundeth the next final cause, which he maketh double, to wit, sanctification and justification, whereof he will speak hereafter. And hereby also two things are to be noted, to wit, that holiness of life cannot be separated from the grace of election: and again what pureness forever is in us, is the gift of God, who hath freely of his mercy chosen us.
12. Ephesians 1:4 Then God did not choose us, because we were, or otherwise should have been holy, but to the end we should be holy.
13. Ephesians 1:4 Being clothed with Christ’s righteousness.
14. Ephesians 1:4 Truly and sincerely.
15. Ephesians 1:5 Another plainer exposition of the efficient cause, and also of eternal election, whereby God is saith to have chosen us in Christ, to wit, because it pleased him to appoint us out when we were not yet born, whom he would make to be his children by Jesus Christ: so that there is no reason here of our election to be sought, but in the free mercy of God, neither is faith which God foresaw, the cause of predestination, but the effect.
16. Ephesians 1:5 God respecteth nothing, either that present is, or that is to come, but himself only.
17. Ephesians 1:6 The uttermost and chiefest final cause is the glory of God the Father, who saveth us freely in his Son.
18. Ephesians 1:6 That as his bountiful goodness deserveth all praise, so also it should be set forth and published.
19. Ephesians 1:6 Another final cause more near, is our justification, while that he freely accounteth us for just in his Son.
20. Ephesians 1:7 An expounding of the material cause, how we are made acceptable to God in Christ, for it is he only, whose sacrifice by the mercy of God is imputed unto us, for the forgiveness of sin.
21. Ephesians 1:8 Now he cometh at length to the formal cause, that is to say, to vocation or preaching of the Gospel, whereby God executeth that eternal counsel of our free reconciliation and salvation in Christ. And putting in place of the Gospel all wisdom and understanding, he showeth how excellent it is.
22. Ephesians 1:8 By which gracious goodness and bountifulness.
23. Ephesians 1:8 In perfect and sound wisdom.
24. Ephesians 1:9 For unless the Lord had opened unto us that mystery, we could never have so much as dreamed of it ourselves.
25. Ephesians 1:9 Not only the election, but also the vocation proceedeth of meer grace.
26. Ephesians 1:10 The Father exhibiteth and gave Christ, who is the head of all the elect unto the world, at that time which was convenient, according as he most wisely disposed all times from everlasting. And Christ is he in whom all the elect from the beginning of the world, (otherwise wandering and separated from God) are gathered together: of which some were then in heaven when he came into the earth, (to wit, such as by faith in him to come, were gathered together) and others being found upon the earth, were gathered together of him, and the rest are daily gathered together.
27. Ephesians 1:10 The faithful are said to be gathered together in Christ, because they are joined together with him through faith, and become as it were one man.
28. Ephesians 1:11 He applieth severally the benefit of vocation to the believing Jews, going back to the very fountain, that even they also may not attribute their salvation neither to themselves, nor to their stock, nor to any other thing, but to the only grace and mercy of God, both because they were called, and also because they were first called.
29. Ephesians 1:11 All things are attributed to the grace of God without exception, and yet for all that, we are not stocks, for he giveth us grace both to will and to be able to do those things that are good, Phil. 2:13.
30. Ephesians 1:12 He speaketh of the Jews.
31. Ephesians 1:13 Now he maketh the Ephesians (or rather all the Gentiles) equal to the Jews, because that notwithstanding they came last, yet being called by the same Gospel, they embraced it by faith, and were sealed up with the same spirit, which is the pledge of election, until the inheritance itself be seen, that in them also also the glory of God might shine forth, and be manifested.
32. Ephesians 1:13 That word which is truth indeed, because it cometh from God.
33. Ephesians 1:13 This is a borrowed kind of speech taken of a seal, which being put to anything, maketh a difference between those things that are authentical, and others that are not.
34. Ephesians 1:13 With that Spirit, which bringeth not the Law, but the promise of free adoption.
35. Ephesians 1:14 Full and perfect.
36. Ephesians 1:15 He returneth to the former gratulation, concluding two things together of those things that went before: the first is, that all good things come to us from God the Father in Christ, and by Christ, that for them he may be praised of us. The second is that all those things (which he bringeth to two heads, to wit, faith and charity) are increased in us by certain degrees, so that we must desire increase of his grace from whom we have the beginning, and of whom we hope for the end.
37. Ephesians 1:17 The causes of faith are God the Father lightening our minds with his holy spirit, that we may embrace Christ opened unto us in the Gospel, to the obtaining of everlasting life, and the setting forth of God’s glory.
38. Ephesians 1:17 Full of majesty.
39. Ephesians 1:17 For it is not enough for us to have known God once, but we must know him every day more and more.
40. Ephesians 1:18 What blessings they are which he calleth you to hope for whom he calleth to Christ.
41. Ephesians 1:19 The excellency of faith is declared by the effects, because the mighty power of God is set forth and shown therein.
42. Ephesians 1:20 The Apostle willeth us to behold in our most glorious Christ with the eye of faith, that most excellent power and glory of God, whereof all the faithful are partakers, although it be as yet very dark in us, by reason of the ignominy of the cross and the weakness of the flesh.
43. Ephesians 1:20 To be set on God’s right hand, is to be partaker of the sovereignty which he hath over all creatures.
44. Ephesians 1:21 Everything whatsoever it be, or above all things be they of never such power or excellency.
45. Ephesians 1:22 That we should not think that that excellent glory of Christ is a thing wherewith we have nought to do, he witnesseth, that he was appointed of God the Father the head of all the Church, and therefore the body must be joined to his head, which otherwise should be a maimed thing without the members: which notwithstanding is not of necessity (seeing that the Church is rather quickeneth and sustained by the only virtue of Christ, so far off is it, that he needeth the fullness thereof) but of the infinite goodwill and pleasure of God, who vouchsafeth to join us to his Son.
46. Ephesians 1:22 Insomuch that there is nothing but is subject to him.
47. Ephesians 1:23 For the love of Christ is so great toward the Church, that though he do fully satisfy all with all things, yet he esteemeth himself but a maimed and unperfect head, unless he have the Church joined to him as his body.

Cross references

1. Ephesians 1:1 : 1 Cor. 1:2
2. Ephesians 1:3 : 1 Cor. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:3
3. Ephesians 1:19 : Eph. 3:7; Col. 2:12