Bible Reading for July 22 – Ephesians 1:1-23

When writing to a church he had helped to organize, we might expect a pastor to express his pride in the members’ faithfulness to the doctrines he had taught them, or perhaps to praise them for their lives of exemplary holiness. But even though Paul does mention these things in verse 15, he instead gives thanks to God (v. 16). Why is that?

Because of the essence of the gospel, which he summarizes in this passage. For the fact is that God is the One Who saves sinners – we don’t save ourselves by what we think or do. After all, it was the Father Who raised Christ from the dead (v. 20) and Who has given Him authority over everyone and everything throughout history (v. 21). Just so, it is the Father Who has given Christ as Head of the Church (v. 22), choosing those who trust in Christ from before the foundation of the world (v. 4), adopting us into His family (v. 5) and making us members of His body (v. 23).

And it is God Who gives all who trust in Christ the Holy Spirit (v. 13), the spirit of wisdom and revelation Who helps us understand the gospel more fully (v. 17), and Who also gives us hope of God’s call on our lives. And it is the Holy Spirit Who binds us to other believers, thus making us part of God’s inheritance (v. 18), the part of His creation that He has redeemed from the power of sin and death.

So, since there’s nothing any of us can do to contribute to our salvation, there’s no room for human pride, is there? Moreover, if the reason God chose us and saved us and adopted us and filled us with His Spirit is so that we “should be holy and blameless before Him” (v. 4), there’s no room for selfishness either. No, according to the true gospel, God should get all the praise and all the glory, even for our righteous deeds and orthodox beliefs.

So, perhaps it’s no wonder that unbelievers, those who cling to their pride and live for their own pleasure, have little use for such a God-centered gospel. But the question for those of us who claim to be Christians is, do we?

Ephesians 1:1-23 (ESV)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
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 upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.