The First Sermon on the First Chapter - John Calvin

Introduction to Ephesians 1:1-3
Ephesians 1:1-3
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to all you holy and faithful ones in Jesus Christ, who are at Ephesus. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things (or in heavenly places) in Christ.

The Timeless Nature of Paul’s Epistles
When we read the epistles which St. Paul wrote to a variety of places, we must always consider that God meant them to serve not only for one time alone, or for certain people only, but for ever, and in general for the whole church. And truly, if a man considers well the doctrine that is contained in them, it will be easy to discern that God’s intention was to be heard in the things that are spoken there, even to the world’s end; and also that He has such a care for us that He has not passed over or forgotten anything that might further our salvation. The sum of this Epistle, which I have now taken in hand to expound, is that St. Paul confirms such as had been already instructed in the gospel, in order that they might know that that is what they must rest upon, as upon the true and perfect wisdom, and that it is not lawful to add anything to it.

The Excellence of the Gospel and Our Response
Paul tells us that the benefits which are brought to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, and of which we are made partakers by means of His gospel, are so excellent that we must surely be extremely unthankful if we scurry to and fro like people who are never at rest or contented. And then he shows us also what we have in Christ in order that we should so cleave to Him as not to presume to seek help anywhere else, but assure ourselves that He has procured everything for us.

Again, on the other side, he shows us that Christ has so well provided for His church that if we know how to use the gifts of grace He offers us, we shall have full and perfect happiness. Along with this, he warns those who have been instructed in the truth of the gospel to lead a holy life, and to show that they have profited as they ought to do in God’s school.

The Relevance of Paul’s Doctrine Today
Now these things serve not only for the city of Ephesus, nor for any one country, nor for any one age or time, but we have need to be urged on more and more, seeing that the devil strives ceaselessly to turn us to evil. And when he cannot lead us completely away from the doctrine of Jesus Christ, he labours to make it distasteful to us some way or another, and to entangle us in new curiosities, only to bring to pass that we may not be constant in the faith that we have received, but give way to vacillation. Now whenever our fancies are so fidgety, it is certain that an opening is made to blot out the remembrance of all that we had learned before and to take in many follies, yes, and erroneous doctrines, which serve to corrupt and pervert the purity of our faith.

We see then that the doctrine which is contained in this epistle is directed and dedicated to us at this present day, and that God has by His wonderful providence so disposed things beforehand that we not only have had the foundations of the gospel upon which to ground ourselves, but also the means by which our faith may from day to day grow and increase, so that we may still go forward until we reach perfection.

Paul’s Apostolic Authority
First and foremost, St. Paul claims the authority belonging to him, which had been given him by God, in order that men should not waste their time over his person, as though his word had been but the saying of a mortal man. For in very deed, our Lord Jesus Christ is the only master from whom we must learn, for it is witnessed of Him from heaven that it is only He and no other to whom we must listen [Matt. 17:5]. It has always been God’s will to keep the guiding of His own church to Himself, and that His Word should be received without contradiction. He has not given that privilege to any creature. And when Jesus Christ is ordained in the place of God His Father, it is because He is God manifested in the flesh, and the infallible truth itself, and His wisdom which was before all time [I Tim. 3:16].

The Calling of a Teacher
Furthermore, when men speak, they must not do it in their own name, nor put forward anything of their own fancy and brain, but they must faithfully set forth the thing that God has enjoined upon them and given them in charge. Thus you see why St. Paul uses this preface, as it were everywhere, that he is an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence he holds it as a settled principle that if any man introduces himself to speak in his own name, there is nothing but rashness in him, for he takes upon himself what belongs to God only.

Again, since our Lord Jesus Christ was purposely sent to be our last teacher that we might have such wisdom as is perfect and utterly without fault, therefore St. Paul calls himself an apostle sent by Him. This presupposes two things; first, that St. Paul had that charge committed to him; secondly, that he duly acquitted himself of it by rendering faithful service in the office that he was called to. For if a man were the most gifted and most excellent in the world, yet if he thrusts himself forward under his own impulse, he disturbs all order. And we know that God will have order and not disorder amongst us, as St. Paul says in the fourteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians.

The Necessity of a Calling
He then that speaks, at least to teach, must have a calling, that is to say, he must be admitted and have his charge given him, so that every man may not put himself forward by reason of an unadvised zeal, as I said before. But to speak further of St. Paul’s calling is not needful at this time, for we know how God gave testimony that He anointed him as His apostle [Acts 9:15]. And indeed he does not dispute much about it here, because it was known well enough in the church of Ephesus. But since the Galatians had been troubled by deceivers, so that St. Paul’s authority, yes, and the name of God Himself had been disgraced there, we see how he maintained his own status, telling them that the reverence due to an apostle of Jesus Christ could not be taken from him without overthrowing the divine order [Gal. I:13—16]. Therefore it is enough for him here to have said in one word that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ.

The Purity of the Calling
Let us come to the second point upon which I touched, namely, that it is not enough for a man to be called, except he discharge his duty with a pure conscience and with integrity in his office, which thing St. Paul took upon him as a thing beyond all question, and he had given sufficient proof of it. The deceivers may well boast with full mouth that they are called, as we see they do. For all they who fight against God and His Word, and sow trouble and tares in His church, would fain make a shield of their calling, and also of their zeal, for they will insist on being called Christians over and over again. But St. Paul had sufficiently proved that he did not come of himself, nor sought anything else than to spend himself in the building up of the church. And since the same was well known in Ephesus (as we may gather from the history of St. Luke: Acts 19), and he had fought many a hard battle, therefore he thinks it enough to say in one word that he is an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Staying True to the Doctrine of the Gospel
Here we must take warning, first to keep to the pure doctrine which we know has proceeded from God, for we cannot go wrong if we follow that rule. And seeing that in our Lord Jesus Christ we have the performance of all that is requisite and needful for our instruction, so that we have no need to doubt whether we must keep to the gospel or add something to it, let us be content to take the Son of God as our Master, especially as He vouchsafes to stoop so low as to take that charge upon Him, and also testifies that if we have profited well in His doctrine, we shall come to the true goal to which we should make our way.

Faith in the Gospel as a Sure Foundation
You see then that the first lesson which we have to gather from this passage is that our faith must not waver one way or another, but have a sure and immovable foundation to rest on, namely, God’s truth, even as it is contained in the gospel. And seeing that St. Paul is sufficiently acknowledged by us, let us not doubt that God’s Spirit speaks to us at this day by his mouth, neither let us hear the doctrine as if it were subject to our judgment. But let us subject our own understanding and minds and receive it without calling it in question, unless we will wilfully make war against God and lift up ourselves above Him. This, then, is one of the things which we have to notice from this passage.

Making the Gospel Pleasant to Us
Furthermore, in order that this doctrine may not only be reverenced among us, but that it may also be pleasant to us, let us take note that St. Paul speaks in the name of Christ, who was sent to us by God His Father to bring us glad tidings of peace. Also let us bear in mind how he says in another passage that he was ordained to bring the message of reconciliation, and that he beseeches men in God’s name to be reconciled to God [2 Cor. 5:20]. Now I told you that this was done to make the doctrine of the gospel sweet, that we might be desirous of it and give ourselves wholly to it. For whenever it is told us that God speaks to us, truly it is enough to give authority to all that He shall speak. But yet we may tremble at His voice and at the same time be troubled by it, according as we see a great number confess well enough that God deserves to be obeyed and to have all men subject to Him, but in the meanwhile, they turn away and shun Him as far as they can, because His voice makes them afraid.

The Mediator Between God and Man
But when Jesus Christ speaks to us as the mediator between God and man, we may go to Him boldly, for (as it is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews) we are no more, as it were, at Mt. Sinai, where the lightnings flashed in the air when the law was published, insomuch that if a beast had come near to it, it must have died. The voice which God uttered at that time was terrible [Heb. 12:18—20; Exod. 19:12]. But nowadays, seeing that He encourages us by His gospel to receive the grace He offers us, and intends to wipe away the remembrance of our sins, let us allow ourselves to be justified by His free grace, and let us be peaceable and obedient to Him. For indeed this ought to move us to come to Him like poor hungry souls to be fed with the heavenly food that He will give us. Thus we see in effect what we have to remember when St. Paul calls himself the apostle of Jesus Christ.

The Humility of Paul’s Calling
Paul adds that he is an apostle by the will of God. This serves to place it beyond all doubt, in order that men should not blame him for presumption, as though he thought himself of better reputation than other men. He protests that it was not because of any worthiness of his own, but because it had pleased God to choose him for that office. And certainly it is no feigned humility when he says he was set in that position by God’s mere grace and choosing [I Cor. 15:9; I Tim. 1:13—16]. For we see how in other passages he confesses that he is not worthy of such honour, but rather had deserved utter damnation, and therefore was to be taken as a mirror of God’s infinite goodness, in that He had exalted him so high, even him who had been a murderer of Christians, who had shed the blood of the martyrs, and who had blasphemed against God and His Word, as he himself reports it.

Faith and Obedience in Christ
We see then that there was no pretence in this confession of his, where he says that he was set in that state and rank by the will of God alone. And this serves a great purpose still, in order that we may not esteem God’s Word according to the worth of those who bring it to us. For one of the common artifices which the devil uses to diminish reverence for God’s Word is to place before our eyes the persons who bring it. Now it is certain that we are frail vessels and of no value, yes, of no more worth than broken pots. What is there in those whom God has ordained to be the ministers of His Word? But the treasure is inestimably great at all times, despite the contemptibleness of the vessels [2 Cor. 4:7].

The Responsibility of Listening to God’s Word
Let us take note then that when men come to bear testimony to the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation we ought to hope for, our faith must rise up higher and not stand questioning whether such a man is worthy to be heard or not, or enquiring what manner of person he is. Let us content ourselves with the thought that God by that means intends to draw us to Himself. This is the way we must walk, and if we step aside from it, we soon go astray and are on the way to perdition.

The Call to Humility in Preaching
Let us note this well, then, that we must submit ourselves to God’s will and ordinance and receive without hindrance the doctrine that is preached to us by the mouths of mortal men. For we must not be wise in the way that many people are, who demand whether God could not send His angels from heaven and teach us by revelations, nor in the way of some busybodies who make pretence that they have the Holy Ghost at their beck and call, for which reason they disdain to receive the gifts as they are dealt out by God. So that we may not be bewitched by Satan after this manner, let us take note how it is said here that it is God’s will that the gospel should be preached by the mouths of men, and that they are, as it were, witnesses to us. Whoever exempts himself from this ordinance is acting as if he thrusts back God’s hand when He offers him sure and infallible testimony of his salvation. Thus you see what we still have to take note of from this passage.

The Example of Humility in St. Paul
Again, they that are called to proclaim God’s Word ought to take warning from St. Paul’s example to walk in lowliness. For who are we if we compare ourselves with him? He shows us that he was not chosen for any native sufficiency or ability, but because it was God’s will to have it so. Therefore let us assure ourselves that we hold all things of God and His pure grace, and that we cannot attribute anything to ourselves, unless we intend to rob Him of His right. And we know that such ingratitude is not to be tolerated.

The Universality of the Gospel’s Message
Next, the apostle says, ‘To all the holy ones that are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Jesus Christ.’ It is true that the name of the city is expressed here, but yet (as I have touched on already) the doctrine is common to us all, and God has granted it for our use at this day, and we must receive it as if St. Paul were still alive and among us. Yes, and we must not only have an eye to him, but to the Person by whom he is sent. For although he died when he had finished his race, yet God’s Spirit is immortal. Whatever happens, we must, for our learning, bear in mind what St. Paul says here when he speaks to the saints and faithful ones in Jesus Christ.

Holiness Through Faith
Although, then, we are not of that time, nor of the country and people of Asia, nevertheless, seeing it has pleased God to join us with those to whom St. Paul wrote in his time, let us assure ourselves that it behoves us to be strengthened in the faith which we have received by the gospel, because it was the intention and purpose of the Holy Spirit to exhort to perseverance all those who have the rudiments of the gospel, and are still weak and in need of stronger confirmation.

The Nature of Holiness and Sanctification
But let us bear well in mind these words where it is said, ‘the saints and faithful ones in Jesus Christ.’ For St. Paul shows that all the holiness of men is nothing else but pretence until God has brought them to His own service and dedicated and consecrated them to it by faith. For we are all unclean by nature, and nothing but infection can come from us. It is true that, if men put on some fine outward show and appearance, they will be accounted as righteous as can be, and their virtues will be commended everywhere, just as we see that a man can acquire the reputation of great perfection if he but possesses some fair qualities. But we must remember that it is said in the fifteenth chapter of Acts that God cleanses men’s hearts by faith [15:9]. And He had great reason to do so, for (as the prophet Jeremiah says) man’s heart is a pit of horrible confusion [17:9]. We ourselves do not perceive it, but God has clearer eyes than me. Be that as it may, let us assure ourselves of this, that all the holiness which men imagine they have is but corruption and abominable before God, until such time as they are made one by the faith of the gospel. Therefore note it for a settled point that no other holiness is accepted and acknowledged at God’s hand than the holiness of believers. For except we first become Christians we are blind and can never render to God His due.

True Holiness and Sanctification in Christ
Although there were no other sacrilege than this, would it not be enough to mar all the virtues that we could have besides? Again, seeing that the spirit of perfection, the spirit of the fear of God, the spirit of righteousness, and the spirit of purity abide and rest in Jesus Christ, it is certain that all such as are separated from Him have nothing else in them but vice and all manner of uncleanness, however much the world may applaud them.

Faith Without Sanctification is Hypocrisy
On the other hand, let us note also that all such as boast of having faith in the gospel, and are not sanctified by God, betray their own hypocrisy and lying, and belie themselves by their own life, no matter what they may sing or say, just as we see many nowadays who defile and profane this name of the faith which ought to be holy. For every man will say that he is faithful, and they who have least faith are boldest to say that there is no faith but in themselves. And would God that it were so only by half! But we see even among all that bear the name of Christians that their whole life is disordered and loose, insomuch that they mock God to the full and despise all religion, and yet nevertheless in the meanwhile think (as I have said already) that they are greatly wronged if they are not taken as good and catholic Christians.

Holiness Requires True Faith and Obedience
Yet for all this, we see how St. Paul links these two things together in an inseparable bond, namely, that if we have the faith of the gospel, we must consequently give ourselves over entirely to our God and separate ourselves from the corruptions of the world, just as we have seen that in the Epistle to the Galatians [I:4; 4:5—7] he says that the coming into the world of our Lord Jesus Christ is in order that we should be sanctified by His blood, to yield obedience henceforth in all pureness to God His Father. And as he says in another place [I Thess. 4:7], we are not called to uncleanness but to righteousness, in order that God’s name should be honoured and glorified by us.

Conclusion: The Holiness of the Saints
Thus, you see what we have to remember from this preface, in order that we may be the better prepared to receive the doctrine contained in this Epistle, and that it may have such authority among us as it deserves, and moreover be made pleasant to us, so that we may understand how it is for our special benefit to learn at Paul’s hand. For the apostle testifies the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to us and leads us to God to be reconciled to Him, whereas we are naturally the children of wrath. And furthermore, he shows how we may stand in God’s favour, so that we may be bold to call upon Him as our Father and be sure that He also accounts us His children.

John Calvin