+The practical design of the epistle.+--The object is to set forth the ground, course, aim, and end of the Church of the faithful in Christ. The Ephesians are a sample of the Church universal. The key to the epistle may be found in the opening sentence (ver. 3). Fixing his eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle opens his mind to the blessings which radiate forth from Him, and from the Father through Him, upon the whole world. The mind of God towards men unveiled in Christ, the relation of men towards God exhibited in Christ, the present spiritual connection of men with Christ, the hopes of which Christ is the ground and assurance, the laws imposed by the life of Christ upon human life--these are the blessings for which he gives thanks. Christ embracing humanity in Himself is the subject of the epistle. St. Paul tells with strict faithfulness what he has read and seen in Christ; Christ fills the whole sphere of his mind. +CHAPTER I.+ _CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES._ Ver. 1. +To the saints.+--Dismiss the commonly accepted meaning. Not men who by hard and rigorous methods have reached the heights where but few abide, but those who, as the elect of God, are separated from everything unholy and kept for God's peculiar possession (1 Pet. ii. 9). +And faithful.+--Sometimes the word may mean "believers," sometimes "trustworthy." "The use of the adjective for the Christian brotherhood cannot be assigned rigidly either to the one meaning or the other. Its very comprehensiveness was in itself a valuable lesson" (_Lightfoot_). Ver. 2. +Grace . . . and peace.+--The light-hearted Greek salutation was, "Rejoice"; the more sober Hebrew--our Lord's own--was, "Peace be to you." Here both unite. Ver. 3. +Blessed be the God and Father.+--The Hebrew form for "hallowing the Name" was, "The Holy One, blessed be He." The Prayer Book version of Psalm c. gives, "Speak good of His name." +Who blessed us.+--When old Isaac pronounces the blessing uttered on Jacob unwittingly to be irreversible, he depends on God for the carrying out of his dying blessing: the Divine blessing _makes_ whilst _pronouncing_ blest. +In the heavenly places.+--Lit. "in the heavenlies"--so, as A.V. margin says, either places or _things._ Perhaps the _local_ signification is best; "relating to heaven and meant to draw us thither" (_Blomfield_).