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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
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In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
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that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,
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to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
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who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
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Thanksgiving and Prayer
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people,
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I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
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and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength
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far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
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And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
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which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
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in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
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All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
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But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
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made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
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And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
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For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
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Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—
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remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
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For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
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and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
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Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
