Read & explore together
Spiritual Blessings
Ephesians 1:3-14 is a rich passage of praise and teaching. It speaks about God’s blessings in Christ, including holiness, adoption, forgiveness, inheritance, and the promised Holy Spirit, and it repeatedly points to God’s glory.
Understanding the passage
The setting of these words
These verses begin by blessing the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for every spiritual blessing in Christ. The passage then traces God’s purpose in choosing, adopting, redeeming, forgiving, revealing his will, giving an inheritance, and sealing believers with the promised Holy Spirit, all leading to praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:3–14Main takeaway
This passage teaches that God’s saving work in Christ is generous, purposeful, and directed toward the praise of his glory.
Follow the letter’s teaching
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Blessed in ChristThe passage opens with praise to God, who has blessed believers with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
Explanation
The passage opens with praise to God, who has blessed believers with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. The wording points to the fullness of what God gives, not a single gift. “In Christ” matters because the blessings named through the passage are tied to him.
02Chosen for holiness and adoptionThese verses say God chose us in him before the foundation of the world, with the purpose that we would be holy and without defect before him in love.
Explanation
These verses say God chose us in him before the foundation of the world, with the purpose that we would be holy and without defect before him in love. They also say we were predestined for adoption as children through Jesus Christ, leading to praise for the glory of his grace.
03Redemption, forgiveness, and God’s purposeIn Christ, the passage says believers have redemption through his blood and forgiveness of trespasses according to the riches of God’s grace.
Explanation
In Christ, the passage says believers have redemption through his blood and forgiveness of trespasses according to the riches of God’s grace. That grace abounds, and God makes known the mystery of his will. His stated purpose is to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.
04Inheritance and the Spirit’s sealThe passage says believers were assigned an inheritance in Christ according to God’s purpose and will.
Explanation
The passage says believers were assigned an inheritance in Christ according to God’s purpose and will. It also describes hearing the word of truth, believing, and being sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit is called a pledge of the inheritance, again directing attention to the praise of God’s glory.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What repeated phrase shows where these blessings are found?
Look for the words repeated through the passage, especially in the verses about blessing, redemption, inheritance, and the Spirit.
02According to this passage, what did God intend for those he chose?
Notice the purpose words in the verse about being chosen, and the family language in the verse about adoption.
03What does the Holy Spirit mean for believers in this passage?
Read the verses that describe hearing, believing, being sealed, and receiving a pledge of inheritance.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Ephesians 1:3–14
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love,
5having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,
6to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved.
7In him we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
8which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
9making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him
10to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him.
11We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will,
12to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ.
13In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.