RCL reading for Sunday, July 12, 2009:
Excerpt from the New Revised Standard Version
via Oremus (http://bible.oremus.org)
Ephesians 1:3-14
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight
9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,
12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;
14 this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Maimon says ...
ReplyDeleteOne hint at the authorship of Ephesians is in 6:21 with the name Tychicus but whether that or Paul, either seems unlikely. The opening prayer is one long, rambling sentence at least conceptually. It has been called a berakah or blessing prayer, possibly related to the Hebrew root of Baruch. It can be broken into three parts by the phrase "to the praise of his glory." The first stasimon relates to God's plan for the church going back to eternity past. A second stasimon would then relate to knowledge and wisdom and insight developing toward a future escheton. The third division changes from talking about us to talking about you reflecting the melding of the gentiles into Israel. The seal of salvation is the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit.