Our Inheritance Through Christ’s Blood

2 Therefore, ^(A)laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ^2 (B)as newborn babes, desire the pure ^(C)milk of the word, that you may grow ^[a]thereby,

¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, ^(A)for the ^[a]edifying of ^(B)the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith ^(C)and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to ^(D)a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be ^(E)children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of ^(F)deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the ^(G)head—Christ— ^16 (H)from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

^18 (A)but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

^(B)To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Their Faith in Christ

^3 (A)We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ^4 (B)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(C)your love for all the saints; ⁵ because of the hope ^(D)which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, ^(E)as it has also in all the world, and ^(F)is bringing forth ^[a]fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew ^(G)the grace of God in truth; ⁷ as you also learned from ^(H)Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is ^(I)a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, ⁸ who also declared to us your ^(J)love in the Spirit.

Preeminence of Christ

^9 (K)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask ^(L)that you may be filled with ^(M)the knowledge of His will ^(N)in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ^10 (O)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, ^(P)fully pleasing Him, ^(Q)being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the ^(R)knowledge of God;