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Christ Brings Spiritual Blessings

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual blessings that Christ has brought us from heaven! Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. God was kind[a] and decided that Christ would choose us to be God's own adopted children. God treated us with undeserved grace because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.

7-8 (A) Christ sacrificed his life's blood to set us free, which means our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because of God's gift of undeserved grace to us. God has great wisdom and understanding, and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways. 10 Then when the time is right, God will do all he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.

11 God always does what he plans, and this is why he appointed Christ to choose us. 12 He did this so we Jews would bring honor to him and be the first ones to have hope because of him. 13 Christ also brought you the truth, which is the good news about how you can be saved. You put your faith in Christ and were given the promised Holy Spirit to show you belong to God. 14 The Spirit also makes us sure we will be given what God has stored up for his people. Then we will be set free, and God will be honored and praised.

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Footnotes

  1. 1.4,5 holy and innocent and loving people. God was kind: Or “holy and innocent people. God was loving and kind.”

Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,(A) who has blessed us in the heavenly realms(B) with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us(C) in him before the creation of the world(D) to be holy and blameless(E) in his sight. In love(F) he[a] predestined(G) us for adoption to sonship[b](H) through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure(I) and will— to the praise of his glorious grace,(J) which he has freely given us in the One he loves.(K) In him we have redemption(L) through his blood,(M) the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches(N) of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he[c] made known to us the mystery(O) of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed(P) in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment(Q)—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.(R)

11 In him we were also chosen,[d] having been predestined(S) according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose(T) of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.(U) 13 And you also were included in Christ(V) when you heard the message of truth,(W) the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal,(X) the promised Holy Spirit,(Y) 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance(Z) until the redemption(AA) of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.(AB)

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 1:5 Or sight in love. He
  2. Ephesians 1:5 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a legal term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture.
  3. Ephesians 1:9 Or us with all wisdom and understanding. And he
  4. Ephesians 1:11 Or were made heirs