The most theology-packed letter Paul wrote—and one clause in its first chapter I have never been able to leave alone.
Ephesians 1 is where nearly all of this lands: the blessing, the choosing, and the two words ἐν ἀγάπῃ that sit exactly between “holy and blameless before him” and “he predestined us.” One message preached, one study of grace across the whole letter, and two Greek papers on that single crux—one asking what the church fathers did with it, the other what the English versions do.
Preaching Ephesians 1
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Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3–14)
Message · 2017
Ephesians 1:3–14: every spiritual blessing in Christ—held so that the blessings magnify the one who gives them rather than crowd him out.
Papers 3
The last two are a pair, written the same term for Advanced Greek Grammar.
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The Theology of Grace from the Epistle to the Ephesians
Paper · 2001
Grace across the whole letter: its source in God’s free will, its abundance, and its inseparability from Christ.
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The Church Fathers’ Use of Ephesians 1:4–5 and Their Placement of ἐν ἀγάπῃ
Paper · 2005
Athanasius and the rest, quoted at length, to see whether the fathers read ἐν ἀγάπῃ with verse 4 or verse 5.
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Version Analysis of ἐν ἀγάπῃ in Ephesians 1:4–5
Paper · 2005
The same crux across the English versions—who commits, who hedges, and what each choice does to the sentence.