Sanctification & Spiritual Blessings "In Christ" Ephesians the First Chapter

What should a Christian's ultimate goal be? Should our ultimate goal be to go to Heaven? Is that our major concern while on this earth? We often quote Paul's statement (Philippians 3:12-14), "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." This was Paul's goal - to press on by way of his calling until he was in the presence of Christ in Heaven. 1 Peter 1:9 tells us that our goal is the salvation of our souls.


Is there an immediate goal that God wishes us to focus on?



In 2 Corinthians 5:9, Paul shares a goal with all his fellow believers: "So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it." Pleasing God, then, whether we are alive or dead, should be our ultimate goal and in meeting this goal, we secure the salvation of our souls and a place in Heaven.



Pleasing God: God was well pleased with Christ on the day of His baptism (Luke 3:21-22). God is well pleased with us when we are "In Christ". When we are "in Christ", God grants us every Spiritual blessing available. The Holy Spirit is one of our Spiritual Blessings. As He enters our hearts upon our conversion from darkness to light (Acts 2:38; Acts 26:18), He helps us to "appraise" the Spiritual Gifts that God Grants to us (1 Cor 2:10-14).  We will have a lot more to say about this process of "appraising spiritual gifts".


At this moment, let's find out what these Spiritual blessings are and how we can identify them in Scripture.


Scripture is a message from God by way of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16). The Holy Spirit's mission is to glorify Christ (John 16:13-14). One of the ways the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ is by giving him the credit for every spiritual blessing. In the New Testament, you will find phrases such as:

"in Him"


"through Him"


"by Christ"


"in Christ"


"in the Beloved"



Each of these phrases is placed in your Bible next to a spiritual blessing. The Holy Spirit never mentions a spiritual blessing without telling you who is responsible for the blessing. The Holy Spirit always lets you know how you come by the blessing--by being "in Christ". There are no spiritual blessings outside of Christ. You don't get a few spiritual blessings now and a few later. If you are "in Christ", you get EVERY spiritual blessing. Let's look in Ephesians chapter 1 to find a good list of those blessings.

To help us in this identification, I have highlighted the blessing in yellow and the reference to Christ highlighted in pink.


Eph 1:3 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.

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace

8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,

10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.


Thanksgiving and Prayer

15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

17 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.

18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,

20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,


23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.



This chapter, of course, is not the only place where the Spirit acknowledges the spiritual blessings afforded those who are "in Christ".


If we, who are "in Christ", are:


• forgiven of sins, holy, blameless, redeemed,


• God's own possession,


• have a calling from God


• given the Holy Spirit


• have hope, grace, wisdom, power, and an inheritance,


• and have an understanding of the mystery of His will,

Do you see how meditating upon the Word, results in a closer walk with Christ and a better understanding our spiritual blessings, which in turn should move us to praise our Lord among the nations (witnessing to others)? Romans 15:9

 How can we be sad, whiney, and gripey? God has supernaturally translated us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son, into the body of Christ, the church. How can we stop giving thanks? How can we not share! If the Holy Spirit's mission is to glorify Christ and He dwells in us, what is our mission? How can we accomplish this mission?


Your thoughts and comments are invited.
It is my prayer to study with you all aspects of the Holy Spirit, His work in us, His ability to reveal gifts to us and His willingness to change us into the Image of Christ.

Spiritual Blessings IN CHRIST

Have you ever wondered why some people are excited about being a Christian and other people are just rather blah? I have wondered that often. How is it that some people who call themselves Christians are thrilled, joyful, and full of excitement and others are grumpy, sad, and whiney? I suspect the issue lies in not just their understanding of God’s promises and gifts to men…but their understanding of the meaning of God's power in our salvation.

In Eph 1:3, the Holy Spirit through the Word, promises that ALL spiritual blessings are ours if we are "in Christ" Jesus.

Take a moment to reflect on what might be included in the list of "all spiritual blessings". In the comment section of this post, list all the spiritual blessings you can name.

God's Power for Today

Please consider the prayer Paul prayed for his fellow Christians (essentially for us):

Eph 3: 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen


MEDITATION:

Spend time reflecting on just these verses this week. When you feel like sharing, comment about what you think these versus (1) mean to you, personally,  (2) what they suggest as far as what God has provided for all Christians, (3) and what should be the result of such blessings in the Christian life-walk?

Remember that we are studying the "power" (dumamis - supernatural power) of God in our lives today.

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Power of God unto Salvation Romans 1:16

Power of God Unto Salvation

Today's meditation is based upon Romans 1:16,


"16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

We will be looking at some key words in Romans 1:16. You are welcome to use your online resources to look up these keywords in the Greek (http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html ) We will take time to look at each of these terms and to discuss their major importance in regards to our salvation.


The Gospel, Good News, is clearly defined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, where Paul declares the three exciting elements of the Gospel.

"1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, (1)that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that (2) He was buried, and that (3) He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve."

We see that the Gospel (Good News) is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is this Gospel that saves us by the Power of God. We believe if God raised Jesus from the dead, that He will in like manner raise us from the dead. If we believe in and obey the Gospel (Colossians 2:12)

Let's explore the idea of obeying the Gospel further. In 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, we are told there are two types of folks who will receive a harsh judgment:

"when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
dealing out retribution to those who (1) do not know God and to those who (2)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, "

Those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel will be sent away rom the presence of God. Since God is all love, light, joy, peace, comfort, and holiness, those who do not obey His gospel will be sent away from God's characteristics. They will be in the presence of the Deciever where all hate, darkness, suffering, pain and evil dwell.

No one goes to Heaven who doesn't want to (who doesn't want to be with God). We prove how much we desire His presences while we live upon this earth. If we love Him and His Son, we will obey the gospel of Jesus Christ and praise Him with our lives.

But HOW do we obey the gospel, the death, burial, and resurection of Jesus Christ?  Romans 6:3-11 explains how we can obey the gospel and be placed "into Christ". We will see that we CAN obey the three main elements of the gospel to become a new creation in Christ, freed from sin, and alive to God.

"3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been (1) baptized into His death?

4 Therefore we have been (2) buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was (3) raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Baptism is the method God chose to bring us into contact with the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. It is the reinactment of the gospel. But there is more to baptism then getting wet. Colosians 2:11-12 

"and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."

Baptism is more than a burial in water, it is accompanied by faith in the working of God. What work does God do in baptism? God's work involves supernatural power (dunamis) in baptism. Remember in Romans 1:16, the power of God is evidenced in the gospel. This word "power" in the Greek is also "dunamis" or supernatural power, miraculous power. What supernatural power does God exert in baptism?

In Ephesians 1:3, we read:

"3 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, "

We can see that if we are "in Christ" we receive EVERY spiritaul blessing from the Father. We don't receive some now and some later...we receive all spiritual blessing when we are placed into Jesus Christ.

In the NEXT posting we will look at the power (dunamis) of God. Spend some time studying on this subject. Here are some Scriptures to help your mediation.

1 Cor 1:18, 24


1 Cor 2:4, 5

1 Cor 4:20

1 Cor 5:4

1 Cor 6:14

1 Cor 15:24, 43, 56

2 Cor 4:7

2 Cor 6:7

2 Cor 12:9, 12

2 Cor 13:4

Eph 1;19, 21

Eph 3:7, 16, 20

Phil 3:10

Col 1:11, 29

1 Th 1:5

2 Th 1:7, 11

2 Th 2:9

2 Tim 1:7, 8

2 Tim 3:5  Write in the Blog Comment section what you think this Scripture means

Heb 1:3

Heb 2:4

Heb 6:5

Heb 7:16

1 Pet 1:5

1 Pet 3:22

2 Pet 1:3, 16

2 Pet 2:11

Rev 3:8  Reflect on this passage and share your feelings.

Rev 4:11

Rev 5:12

Rev 7:12

Rev 11:17

Rev 12:10


Look forward to meditating with you this week.


Suggested Listening Assignment: Audio Message: The Truth about the Church and Salvation (Avon Malone)

At the Foot of the Cross

Teaching young people the Scriptures in the 21st Century requires that we understand and take time to appreciate the world they live in. If we ignore their world, they will ignore us. How will they face the enormous task of reaching 7 billion souls for Christ? How will they be prepared to glean through the world of data overload to find worthy information? How will they interact and display Christian character in a global, digital society?


Watch this video:
Jesus was the master of Experiential Learning. Can you list all the modes of teaching the Master Teacher employed?
Post your comments here.

Good News at the Foot of the Cross

When we stand at the foot of the cross, we look up to see angels descending and ascending from the throne of God (John 1:51). God's blessings, secured by His Son in the Heavenly Realm (Ephesians 1:3), are promised to those who call upon the name of Christ and who are baptized into His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-11 and Acts 22:16). All who have accepted this door to salvation are "in Christ" and are filled with His Spirit as a pledge and as a means of strength (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14

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Because we can at anytime call on the name of Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:2) and "look up" to see the angels responding, we are the very people who need to have joy, peace, and contentment in our hearts, minds, and spirits. Those who are "in Christ" have the privilege of calling on His Name at any time of day or night to receive the blessings of peace, joy, contentment, and wisdom. Jesus knew a "troubled" spirit (John 13:21) and gave it to the Father. Jesus is now in Heaven asking you to give Him your troubled heart (John 14:27 ; 1 Peter 3:14)This is how we show that we trust Him.

Teaching Bible to 21st Century Students

Teaching 21^st Century Students the Bible Visit and comment here.

Evangelism from the Heart

To begin a true evangelistic effort, take Paul as a model and open your heart as a humble servant. Begin praying for not only God to open doors for you, but for God to give you the wisdom to step through those doors and to recognize the doors. Start a 40 day prayer request to God. God has promised to honor prayers which honor His Son.


References to Reflect on:
Colossians 4:3 Colossians 1:9 Colossians 4:5

Living in the Shadow of the Cross

The 13th, 14th, and 15th chapters of John reveal the loving servant nature of Christ. As He faced the cruelest persecution and death imaginable, His thoughts were of others. He washed the feet of the man who betrayed Him and He gave the promise of comfort to those who would forsake Him. If only we could live in the shadow of the cross, this life would become more bearable for all those who enter our sphere of influence. Meditate on these chapters during this week and let God speak to you of His undying love and devotion to you as one of His unique creations.

Learning by Communicating

What are the most important issues you believe the Bible teaches you?