The Real Work of the Holy Spirit

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To be in Christ—it’s impossible to grasp how marvelous it is. Everything that belongs to Christ belongs to you, as God’s child. Jesus paid for it; now it’s yours. From the beginning, God determined you would receive an inheritance out of His grace and because of His good will for no other reason.

Jesus redeems us with His blood.

He reveals the mystery of His will.

He rewards us with an inheritance.

God’s great plans will be carried out as the Trinity works together to accomplish these amazing things for all believers.

As Paul writes about this, he just stops and “sings” a doxology. We were the first to trust Christ, he writes. We should praise God and give Him glory for doing these mighty things for us (v. 12).

We exist for the glory of God. When we live in the center of God’s will, we experience His satisfaction and joy. Pleasing God adds purpose and meaning to life: We exist for the praise of His glory, which is enough.

God gives us an inheritance, Jesus leads the church, and now a third doxology (vv. 13-14) tells us how the Holy Spirit protects us. We learned about God’s work for us; now, we see the Holy Spirit’s work in us.

First, the Holy Spirit regenerates you. He’s the One who makes the Word real to you and helps you respond in faith. When you, a sinner, simply believe on His name, He makes you a child of God (see John 1:12). The Spirit does all the work.

He also seals us. He stamps the image of God on our hearts to give us the reality of our salvation. This seal also guarantees His promise to keep us until the day He delivers us to Christ.

Paul prayed twice in this letter for the Ephesians, both times showing his concern for them. You can tell a lot about a person’s spiritual life by how they pray. Does it express dependence on God? Does it reflect a need they believe God can meet? Will they intercede for others? Paul first thanks God for the Ephesians and then asks God to give them spiritual blessings.

Paul also prayed we would know about the riches of our inheritance in Christ. Did you also know God has an inheritance in us? Today God operates through us, but someday He will claim us as His inheritance.

Jesus is the head of the body, His church. He speaks and acts through us, showing the world how to follow Him. The power that raised Him from the dead now lifts a person out of spiritual death into spiritual life and is the same power Jesus gives His church. His power is resurrection power—and ascension power! This same power is available to us today to make us alive in Him and show the world Jesus. (See Philippians 3:10.)

In many ways, the church is a metaphor for the Old Testament temple and the tabernacle in the wilderness.

God lived temporarily in both the temple and tabernacle—they were “dwelling places for the glory of God.” But now, the church is where the Holy Spirit permanently dwells in individual believers—in a place not made with hands. (See Acts 17:24-25 and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.) Israel never thought God was confined to the temple. Instead, the temple was where God would meet with them when they came with a sacrifice and a ritual. The church has none of that today. In fact, both the temple and tabernacle told the worshipper, “this far and no further,” but now in Christ, we who come from far off can draw near to Christ through His blood.

Jesus welcomes us to Himself.

1. What mighty things has God done for you, specifically, for which you need to praise Him?

2. How would you describe what is meant by believers being regenerated?

3. Paul’s pattern of prayer was to intercede for other people, asking God for spiritual blessings. Is there anyone in your life for which you need to intercede?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee's complete audio teachings of Ephesians 1:12-17 and Ephesians 1:17-23.