1. 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love Eph 1:1-4 What specifically are these spiritual blessings that he speaks of in this text?

2. 2 “The nature of these gracious gifts is made plain in the following words of the eulogy (vv. 4–14), and include election to holiness, adoption as God’s sons and daughters, redemption and forgiveness, a knowledge of God’s gracious plan to sum up all things in Christ, the gift of the Spirit, and the hope of glory.” Pillar New Testament Commentary What does this practically provide us?

3. 3 “These benefits are spiritual (pneumatikos) in nature because they are communicated to us through the Holy Spirit, whose function it is to make over to the believer all that God has achieved in Christ. They have already been secured “in the heavenly realms” (en tois epouraniois, cf. Eph 1:20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12) where Christ now reigns, having triumphed over “the spiritual forces of evil” (Eph 6:12) that threatened to usurp control. Their value is measured by the price that was paid to obtain them when on the cross the Son of God fought satanic opponents and disarmed them (Col 2:15).” EBC What, exactly, does that mean? It means that God loves you too much to leave the fulfillment of His gifts to you and His plans for you, up to your performance in order to bring it all to pass. It means that God the Holy Spirit is going to do this work with or without your cooperation, and fulfill all that has been determined over you. It means that “getting there” is a done deal. How easy or hard the journey will be in getting there, is all that God leaves to your choice, but the determination that you WILL get there, God has left only to Himself.

4. 4 “These benefits are spiritual (pneumatikos) in nature because they are communicated to us through the Holy Spirit, whose function it is to make over to the believer all that God has achieved in Christ. They have already been secured “in the heavenly realms” (en tois epouraniois, cf. Eph 1:20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12) where Christ now reigns, having triumphed over “the spiritual forces of evil” (Eph 6:12) that threatened to usurp control. Their value is measured by the price that was paid to obtain them when on the cross the Son of God fought satanic opponents and disarmed them (Col 2:15).” EBC What does this convey to us?It means that Satan and all of his hosts of demons want to destroy what God has given to you, but he can’t even touch it. This is the case because all that God has in store for us has been accomplished by the blood of Jesus, which has absolutely crushed the power and influence of our enemy, who at one time was our master.

5. 5 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. Eph 1:1-4 What does this line give us? This is “the fundamental act of God which antedates the foundation of the world, that “he elected us for himself in connection with him” (Christ). God selected us and appropriated us unto himself (middle voice) by a specific, eternal act. The preposition in the verb points to a mass or a number out of which the choice was made; here the entire fallen race is that mass.” Lenski

6. 6 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. Eph 1:14 What does this line give us? This is “the fundamental act of God which antedates the foundation of the world, that “he elected us for himself in connection with him” (Christ). God selected us and appropriated us unto himself (middle voice) by a specific, eternal act. The preposition in the verb points to a mass or a number out of which the choice was made; here the entire fallen race is that mass.” Lenski The first thing we need to see in Lenski’s statement is that the word “elected” is in the middle voice. The middle voice carries the significance that the action is done in the interest of the subject of the sentence. It means that God elected you for Himself, for His pleasure, and that He elected you out of all other inhabitants of the earth, even before any were created. It means that you are special to God. It doesn’t mean that He picked you from a dealer’s inventory, it means He ordered you from the factory exactly as you are!