Ephesians 1

Ephesians was written by Paul during his first imprisonment in Rome. It is a letter that talks about many of the great and good things of the gospel. Unlike some of the other epistles where Paul must admonish the saints for their failure to live the gospel, this one is has a positive spirit that makes it enjoyable to read.

In chapter one, there are two important things taught, maybe three, that stand out to me. One is the principle that we were foreordained before we came to this life. When talking about the premortal life, Paul uses the words "before the foundation of the world." When he talks about foreordination, the Bible translators chose the word "predestination" rather than the Greek word foreordination. That was a bad choice of words because God never imposes on our free agency. We were foreordained to some things in this life, but whether they transpire or not is entirely up to us. Outcomes were never predetermined to automatically happen even though God, knowing all things, knew what the outcomes would be. Our patriarchal blessings sometimes indicate some of the things involved in our own foreordinations. These can include, talents, gifts of the Spirit, callings, places of birth, and achievements.

The second thing is that Paul emphasizes twice that God the Father and his son Jesus Christ are two separate beings. They are identified as separate beings. Never in the scriptures is it said that they are two different manifestations of the one God.

The third important teaching to me in this chapter is the dispensation of the fullness of times. In the scriptures, there are different dispensations of the gospel. These are periods of time when there are prophets on the earth, priesthood holders who teach, organize and the lead the people. Each of the dispensations are followed by periods of apostasy when the people refuse the prophets and their teachings. For example, before Christ was born, there was a period of about 600 years when there were no prophets on the earth. We had one of the longer periods of apostasy from the about 61 BC until 1820 when Joseph Smith was called as a prophet. The scriptures teach that in the last days prior to Christ's coming, there will be a final dispensation of the gospel when all things that were previously taught will be gathered together. For there to be a dispensation just like all others throughout history, a prophet had to be called, revelation had to be given, and men with authority chosen to administer the gospel. All scriptures will be gathered together, all ordinances will be revealed and practiced. This is the dispensation we are in.