Jesus First: A Study on EphesiansSample

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In these verses, Paul expresses gratitude and blessings, highlighting God's predestined plan for believers' redemption through Christ's sacrifice. He emphasizes the spiritual blessings, adoption, and inheritance bestowed upon believers as they are sealed with the Holy Spirit – marking their assurance of salvation and eternal life.

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The main concept Paul is conveying is the idea of God's predestined plan for salvation through Christ. He emphasizes God's sovereignty in choosing and adopting believers, highlighting the blessings and spiritual riches that come from being united with Christ. Paul wants people to understand the depth of God's love and the significance of their relationship with Christ in the grand scope of God's eternal purpose.

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“Election (predestination) is the gracious purpose of God according to which He (Jesus) regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with free agency (will) of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation” (Baptist Faith and Message 2000)