Ephesians 1:18 Commentary and Bible Study

This is what we need to advance with. Those Ephesians, they were going to come across a lot of difficulties. Judaisers, so-called, were going to enter into the church and try and subvert them and their faith. People who would say they need to be Jewish proselytes, and be circumcised, and believe in the Jewish ceremonial. Christ was only part of it. They taught that works were needed too: salvation is not entirely by faith in Christ alone, but works are also necessary. The Ephesians would need to understand enough to be able to reject that.Then also gnostic teachers would come in, teaching that, Yes, the Son of God came, but he didn’t become a man, he wasn’t God and man. There was no humanity about him. So the glory of Christ would be taken away and they would have to know how to defend the faith against that error.Then there would be people coming in among them (there were many in those days) who believed in angel worship and this is even referred to indirectly in this chapter. They believed that in order to worship God, you had to ascend and know this angel and that angel. All these things had to be refuted.Then there would be a passion for fables. People were very keen on fables in the ancient world and some were very good story tellers. There was no television in those days. These story-tellers could hold the attention of the people. They would be really highly thought of and followed.The people had to be deep enough and grounded enough to resist this avalanche of error that the enemy would unleash upon them. Therefore, to advance is so vital and the way of advance, particularly after conversion, is explained here. You have got to know the ‘hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.’ The hope of his calling.