Les Feldick Bible Study

According to Ephesians 1:12, are believers described as people who repented and were baptized, or people who trusted in Christ?

Ephesians 1:12 describes believers as those who first trusted in Christ, not as people who repented and were baptized. Paul writes to believers that they should be to the praise of His glory, specifically identifying them as “we who first trusted in Christ.” The verse does not say repented and baptized.

Les explains that Ephesians is one of Paul’s later prison epistles, written from Rome near the end of his life, and that these prison epistles bring higher ground and deeper doctrine—the meat of the Word. In Ephesians 1:12 Paul writes to believers, “that we should be to the praise of His glory, we who first trusted in Christ.” By contrast, Peter, still on covenant ground, was proclaiming repentance and baptism and then the Holy Spirit. Les emphasizes that Ephesians 1:12 does not say repented and baptized; it identifies believers as those who first trusted in Christ.

Ephesians 1:12

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

More Questions

What do the 'in Christ' phrases in Ephesians mean for believers?

The repeated 'in Christ' / 'in Him' prepositional phrases throughout Ephesians describe the believer's position in Christ, or in the body of Christ.