Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Blessings in Christ.
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 Ephesus 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.

Background of Ephesus: You can go to wikipedia and read more about Ephesus, which was located in Turkey and was used as a base by Paul, the author of Ephesians http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus .

In this passage we come across words such as chose us, predestined us, adopted and chosen. The whole thing about God chosing us way before we were born seems kind of confusing so I will not try to explain my theory on predistination and such. I still will draw attention to 2 things that speak to me in this passage.

I. The Way You Are: I would like to point out in verse 4 where Paul says we are .......holy and blameless in his sight. I feel here that once you accept Christ as your savior you are truly holy and blameless in God's sight. From the time of your believing and understanding that Jesus died on the cross for ALL of your sins, past and future, God looks at your soul and sees no sin. Sin in our lives still breaks our full fellowship with God and we still are called to confess our sins and change our ways.

II. Once Saved... In verse 13 Paul states that when you believed, accepted Christ as your savior and the ONLY path to spending eternity in Heaven, you are actually marked with a SEAL. I read into this as say there is nothing that can erase that seal which through the Holy Spirit identifies us as one of God's chosen children. I did attend a bible study recently where the pastor and instructor came off as saying that if you choose to live outside of God's will you are heading down the path to distruction, which could keep one out of Heaven. I fully DISAGREE!

Christ's unselfish, non-humanistic sacrifice, while in a human body was awesome enough to cover all of my shortcomings as well as anyone else who believes.