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Ephesians 1:3 – Spiritual Blessings

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Truth to Learn

God has blessed us with spiritual blessings.

Behind the Words

There are two Greek words translated “blessed” in the New Testament. The first is makarios, meaning “fortunate, well off, or happy.” The other one is eulogētos, from which we get our English word eulogy. It is made up of eu, meaning “good” or “well” and a form of logos, meaning “a word.” Hence, eulogētos means “good words” or “well spoken of.” When used as God blessing a person, eulogētos means “to look on with favor, to act in a person’s life and accomplish His purposes instead of allowing the person to have his or her own way.” In the current verse, both words translated “blessed” and the word translated “blessing” are all forms of eulogētos.

“Spiritual” is translated from pneumatikos, which is derived from pneuma, meaning “spirit.” Thus, pneumatikos means “that which pertains to the spiritual realm as opposed to the earthly physical realm.”

The words “heavenly places” are translated from epouranios, which is made up of epi, meaning “above, over, or on” and a form of ouranos which refers to “heaven.” Epouranios means “that which pertains to heaven” or “the heavenly realm.”

Meaning Explained

Paul starts out this verse by giving praise to God the Father. He states very clearly here that, although Jesus Christ is God and part of the trinity, He is subservient to the Father since he refers to Him as “the God and Father” of Jesus Christ. Since all Christians are “in Christ” (Romans 12:3, 2Corinthians 5:17), then He is also our God and Father.

There is some discussion among Biblical scholars as to the exact meaning of Paul’s expression “spiritual blessing.” Some claim that he is referring to “every blessing of the Holy Spirit,” especially since that would make mention of all three persons of the Godhead in this verse. Others (with whom I would agree) see this as an expression of spiritual blessing as opposed to worldly or material blessing. This makes more sense since the realm of the blessing is “in the heavenlies.” Notice that in the Old Testament, from Abraham onward, God’s promise of blessing was focused on material, earthly things. Not so, in the New Testament. The blessings He promises us are not fame and fortune; they are spiritual riches like eternal life, adoption as sons by God, and reigning with Him. Keep in mind that our citizenship is in heaven, not this world (Philippians 3:20).

Finally, Paul tells us that these spiritual blessings, which we have already been blessed with, are in Christ. Our blessings are not in religion, good works, or obedience, they are in Christ Jesus our Lord and are acquired by faith.

Application

We live in a physical world and we are surrounded by the world system, characterized by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. But we are commanded not to love the things of this world (1John 2:15). Instead, Paul will describe a number of those spiritual blessings because he wants us to focus on our spiritual blessings, not the material ones.

Where are you looking for your blessings, my Christian friend, in the things of this world or in the things of God?

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 7:14

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Truth to Learn

There is a constant battle between our flesh and our spirit.

Behind the Words

The word translated “spiritual” is the Greek word pneumatikos, which means “that which pertains to the nature of spirits and the spirit world.”

“Carnal” is translated from the Greek word sarkikos, which means, “that which pertains to our body, our human flesh.”

The word translated “sold” is pipraskō. It is based on the verb peraō, meaning “to traffic” or “to travel, especially overseas.” It is a reference to those who travel overseas to obtain merchandise which is then sold for profit. Hence, pipraskō refers to something that is sold.

Meaning Explained

The remainder of the chapter, starting with this verse, has been the subject of much debate for at least the past several centuries. The discussion is over whether this description of Paul’s is in reference to a time before his conversion or subsequent to his conversion. I believe that there is sufficient evidence to understand that Paul is making statements about his condition after conversion. First of all, it is the most obvious explanation of what Paul is teaching. Secondly, Paul has already shown that the Law doesn’t produce righteousness; rather, it makes sin more sinful and the sinner guilty. He doesn’t have to prove that again. Thirdly, the expressions that are used are not those that an unrepentant sinner would use. Instead, they express the same frustration that all Christians feel regarding their continued propensity to sin. And fourthly, there is a change made here from past tense to present tense, so Paul is expressing what is currently happening in his life as a born-again Christian who is still struggling with his sin nature.

He starts off this section restating what he already said in verse twelve; the Law is spiritual. That is, the Law is a spiritual entity, it was developed in the realm of spirituality and it was developed to show mankind what spirituality looks like. It is holy, that is, without sin itself, and it is basically good.

Mankind, of whom Paul uses himself as a representative, is not inherently spiritual. Rather, we are carnal according to Paul. The sentence structure is one that contrasts spirituality (that which pertains to and is controlled by the spirit world) with fleshiness or carnality (that which pertains to and is controlled by the non spiritual part of man, called the flesh).

It is this dichotomy and conflict between the realms of spirituality and carnality that Paul will spend the remainder of this chapter on. Though we were created with both a body and a spirit, it is the sin nature (which is part of our body) that controls much of what we do, rather than our spirit.

Application

If you have ever been frustrated by the fact that you sin at times and in a manner in which you don’t want to, stay with us because we are going to find out that Paul had this same battle. The Apostle Paul, one of the foundation stones of the Church of Jesus Christ and one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the early church, battled with his sin nature. And so do we!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Tag: pneumatikos

Ephesians 1:3 – Spiritual Blessings

Ephesians 1:3 – Spiritual Blessings

Truth to Learn

Behind the Words

Meaning Explained

Application

Romans 7:14 – Flesh Versus Spirit