Holy and Blameless Describes the Church - 08/04/2024

The church, the collection of Christians from all times, is described as holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4). These two behavioral objectives were chosen by God “before the foundation of the world.”

Because this choice was made before time began, it was something that God decided before any action of mankind was made. It was not made based upon the good merit or the failure of any one human being or a group of human beings. It was solely the thought and plan of God before He “created the heavens and the earth.”

The idea behind the language of “chose us” is the same as that found in the Old Testament when God, through the prophets, described the nation of Israel. This choice was not based upon their size nor their righteousness, but based solely on the choice God made and declared to Abraham. It had nothing to do with Abraham’s behavior or his descendants.

The phrase “in Him” is significant because of its reference to Christ from the previous verse. Paul will use this phrase repeatedly throughout this book and his other writings to indicate the collectivity of Christians worldwide beginning on the day of Pentecost and lasting until the world is no more.

In the verse under consideration, these two words (holy and blameless) describing the church are adjectives and they are plural in nature, meaning both refer to a group. The first word “holy” means something that is sacred, set apart, or dedicated, for the worship of a deity, in this case God. It is referring to something in the religious world and not the secular.

The second word “blameless” means “faultless,” “without blame.” The church is “innocent” of any wrong doing. This word is describing the status of this group of people God has chosen. This assembly of people is without any guilt as they stand in the presence of God. In Old Testament writings, this description was used to describe the animal to be sacrificed by an individual; it was to be “without blemish.”

It is understood that individuals make up this group of people and that individuals should have these same characteristics. However, in the context of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he is speaking of a group of Christians and not about an individual.

When one considers these characteristics of the church, it should motivate all those who are members of this church to be the type of people described here. A Christian should not want to be the reason why the church would no longer be described as holy and blameless. Never wanting to bring a blemish on the church, Christians should always be living God’s ways. - cgm

Scriptural quotations from the NASB1995.