Ephesians 1:7-14

7:  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
8: which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight
9: He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him
10: with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him
11: also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
12: to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
13: In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14: who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

*** 

Five times Paul used the phrase “In Him” in this short passage of Scripture. In Him—in Christ—we have redemption through His blood. In Him the Father’s kind intention was purposed. In Him we’ve obtained an inheritance. In Him those who heard and believed the gospel were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Paul used this phrase to emphasize that all the heavenly blessings we have in Christ are because of Him—because of our place in Him. Because we’ve chosen to believe the gospel, we have been given a predestined inheritance which the Father has prepared for us. This includes redemption, forgiveness, lavished grace, a revelation of His plan of salvation. This inheritance is pledged through the sealing of the Holy Spirit to those who believe. There is a level of salvation we can walk in now, yet the fulness of our inheritance is yet to come.

Paul said that those who were the first to hope in Christ, which would be the Jewish believers, had an inheritance which would be to the “praise of His glory.” Yet he said that “you too” or the Gentiles who believed the gospel, were also sealed with the Holy Spirit—receiving the pledge of the inheritance. As we’ve seen before, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile in Christ. All who believe in Jesus become a child of God and heirs.

God has revealed His plan of salvation—the mystery which was previously hidden. His kind intention will be summed up in Christ. The fullness of times, the completion of all things in heaven and on earth, will be summed up in Christ. He is what it is all about. Redemption and salvation for mankind will only come through Him—through faith in Him—to those who believe the gospel.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians 1:1-10

1: Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), 2: and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4: who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5: to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen. 6: I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7: which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8: But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9: As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! 10: For am I now see...
Read more

2 Corinthians 7:8-16

8: For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— 9: I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10: For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11: For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. 12: So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you i...
Read more

2 Corinthians 10:1-11

1: Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! 2: I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh. 3: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4: for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5: We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6: and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. 7: You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. 8: For even if I boast somewh...
Read more