P. Derek Overfield PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

of this event for the believer.
What God has done
for Christ is now passed on to the church which at
one and the same time depends on Christ but yet is
organically one with him.
Sanders has failed to
recognise that in Ephesians the notion that the
believer is joined to Christ is less developed than
in the parallel verses in Colossians where a definite
incorporation of the believer with Christ is pro­
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c 1 alme · d • 17
Before we ask what is the significance
of the parallelism between the verses in question we
must note an important difference that exists.
Our
discussion above has drawn attention to the fact that
the greatest degree of similarity exists between 1:20
and 2:6. But we must not ignore the fact that 2:6
does not contain any parallel to l:v oet;LIJ G~'totJ
with reference to the fact that the believer is seated
in the heavenly places.
This would suggest that
this phrase is intended in some way to refer to the
difference, in terms of quality or consequence, between
the ascension of Christ and that of the believer.
The fact that 1:20-23 and 2:1-10 are so
closely tied together strongly suggests that the
interpretation of either one of these texts will
directly effect the interpretation of the other.
Now in 2:1-10 there are some very positive indications
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