Our Redemption “in Christ” Detailed to the Ephesians Volume 7

Paul’s First Prayer for the Ephesian Saints Part 2

Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, KJV

Paul continues his first prayer to these Ephesian believers by praying that their reception of the spirit of wisdom would lead to their understanding the greatness or the enormity of God the Father’s calling them out of the darkness of their pagan practices into His marvelous light in our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wants them and us today to see with spiritual eyes that are opened by the Spirit of God the “one of a kind” calling all saints have in Jesus Christ and with this same idea in mind the Apostle Peter in writing to the persecuted believers “scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1) said this, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellences of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2:9-12).

Paul uses the English phrase “being enlightened” which is translated by the Greek word photizo meaning to shine or make manifest i.e. provide evidence for or show proof of something; to illuminate or make to see clearly. In other words, Paul is praying that the Spirit of God make them see so clearly the “newness of life” (Romans 6:4) that is theirs “in Christ” that they yield to Him, so that their lives can reflect the dramatic change He has wrought or shaped in them by the power of Almighty God. Paul prays that they would be certain of or sure of the “hope” of their “calling” in Christ. The first English word of significance “hope” Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word elpis which means confident expectation. Unlike what we today think of hope as being to wish for something, this Greek word elpis Paul uses means the complete opposite of that. The second English word of significance Paul uses here is “calling” and it is translated by the Greek word klesis means to call aloud or bid or invite or command and order someone to come to you. God the Father invites, calls, commands, orders, and bids sinners to come to Him by His Grace through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ and this calling forth “in Him” is eternally fruitful for sinners yielding positive results in lives for God’s Glory here and now and forever with Him in Heaven.

It was our Lord Jesus who said this in response to the Jewish leaders, “And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and those [preeminently] sinful? But when Jesus heard it, He replied, ‘Those who are strong {and} well (healthy) have no need of a physician, but those who are weak {and} sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy [that is, readiness to help those in trouble] and not sacrifice {and} sacrificial victims. For I came not to call {and} invite [to repentance] the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God), but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin).’” (Matthew 9:11-13).

Paul is praying for these Ephesians to know “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18). The English word riches Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word which means here in a figurative sense abundance or valuable bestowment (the act of conferring an honor or presenting a gift). The conferred honor or gift these Ephesians and every true believer of all time have received is God’s Own Spirit who dispenses God’s Grace in the heart or inner man of the believer. Grace from God the Father to these Ephesians and to us today is “glory” begun in us as the Apostle Peter endeavored to comfort the suffering saints during his day with these words, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” (1 Peter 4:12-14). The Grace received from God the Father that is glory begun in the believer leads the true believer to desire that our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ be glorified as our Lord Jesus Himself declared He had done for us when He said, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” (John 17:22-23).

My own Personal Note: 2 Corinthians 3:17 (AMP): “Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” What does this word “liberty” actually mean? Well this English word liberty comes from the Greek word eleutheria, which means “freedom; moral or ceremonial freedom.” What does this moral freedom produce? Christ is the Spirit who takes away that covering by working in hearts. The Law itself also works in hearts, though in vain because the Law speaks to the spiritually dead (those who are dead in trespasses and sin). The Holy Spirit makes alive or brings life (as I stated in chapter 9). The Lord Jesus Christ is represented as the Spirit. Christ is the end of the law for justification and righteousness to all who believe. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and He is the dispenser of all gifts, graces, and influences. Excerpt from my Book entitled, “Silent Assassins of the Soul: Finding Freedom from Sexual Impurity through the Lord Jesus Christ, A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs”

“Faith is set forth as the condition of heaven, because faith is the means of union with Christ, by and from whom alone we draw the motives for self-surrender and the power for sanctity. You cannot have heaven unless you have God. That is step number one. You cannot have God unless you have ‘holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.’ That is step number two. You cannot have holiness without faith. That is step number three. ‘An inheritance among them that are sanctified’; and then there is added, ‘by faith which is in Me.’ It is clear, too, what a fatal delusion some of us are under who think that we shall, and fancy that we should like to, as we say, ‘go to heaven when we die.’ Why, heaven is here, round about you, a present heaven in the imitation of God, in the practice of righteousness, in the cultivation of dependence upon Him, in the yielding of yourselves up to Him. Heaven is here, and by your own choice you stop outside of it. There must be a correspondence between environment and nature for blessedness. ‘The mind is its own place,’ as the great Puritan poet taught us, ‘and makes a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.’ Fishes die on the shore, and the man that drew them out dies in the water. Gills cannot breathe where lungs are useful, and lungs cannot, where gills come into play. If you have not here and now the holiness which knits you to God, and gives you possession of Him, you would not like ‘heaven,’ if it were possible to carry you to that place, in so far as it is a place. It is rather strange, if you hope to go to heaven when you die, that you should be very unwilling to spend a little time in it whilst you are alive, and that you should expect blessedness then from that presence of God which brings you no blessedness now.” Alexander MacLaren

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…