Ephesians 1:3, commentary and pictures

Blessed be God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, for He has blessed believers with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. The blessings are heavenly in source and character, flowing through union with Christ as Mediator so that nothing needed for spiritual life is lacking. They are given by mercy and not earned by merit, belonging to the riches of grace freely offered through redemption and secured by Christ's self-sacrifice, including redemption, forgiveness of sins and eternal life. From before the world began God chose in Christ that those who believe and obey should be holy and blameless in love, adopted as His children, accepted in the Beloved, redeemed by His blood, forgiven, given wisdom and an inheritance, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Those who love the Son are loved by the Father as He loves His Son, so believers may claim this promise with assurance, leave sin, live as God's children to His praise, and give thanks for His goodness.

Verse Wording and Context

Paul's opening blessing is addressed to the saints at Ephesus, blessing God for blessing believers with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, and it opens into the teaching of Ephesians 1:1-8 on being chosen, predestinated, adopted, redeemed and forgiven through Christ to the praise of grace.
God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is Himself to be blessed and praised because He has blessed believers, and this is one of the privileges of the Christian. That praise belongs to God the Father who gives every spiritual blessing in Christ in the heavenly places, which are the privileges, opportunities, hope and confidence made available through Jesus Christ the righteous Advocate. The gift calls for a thankful spirit that appreciates His freely given grace. As heavenly Father He gives every spiritual blessing through the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, including even the sparing of life, and this calls for gratefulness and praise to His holy name.
God has blessed believers with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, through union with Christ as Mediator through whom all blessings flow. The blessings are heavenly in source and character, come from an unfailing source, and leave nothing needed for spiritual life missing, and they assure those striving for the eternal kingdom. They are bestowed by God's mercy and not earned by human merit, and belong to those Christ has redeemed and who respond to His drawing. The promises are offered to all who accept Christ as their personal Saviour, and through faith in Him they become one with God, with no one shut out from salvation. Those who accept Christ and return to loyalty and obedience are included among God's chosen people. This blessed condition, joined with being chosen in Christ to live holy and blameless before Him in love, is what God desires for those serving in His churches and institutions.
The blessings belong to the gift of grace offered to fallen humanity through the plan of redemption, which was secured by Christ's self-sacrifice and includes redemption, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. They belong to the riches of Christ's grace, freely offered to fallen people through the plan of redemption accomplished by Christ's sacrificial gift. They include being chosen in Christ for holiness, adoption as God's children, acceptance in the Beloved, and redemption through Christ's blood, with forgiveness of sins according to the riches of God's grace, coming through the gift of Christ and the plan of redemption.

Eternal Covenant and Choice

The blessing is according to a choice and covenant made before the world began, from eternity, before the foundations of the earth were laid. That covenant is that all who are obedient, all who through the abundant grace provided become holy in character and without blame before God by appropriating that grace, should be children of God by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of His will, chosen in Christ to be holy and blameless in love. That same covenant was afterward given to Abraham nineteen hundred years before Christ came. And Christ in humanity studied the human race with interest and intensity to see if they would avail themselves of the provision offered.

Being chosen in Christ to live holy and blameless before Him in love is the condition God desires for those serving in His churches and institutions. This choice entails a present-life experience and preparation fitting them for the future life. Obedience in that life reveals faith in God's Word.

The promises are offered to all who accept Christ as their personal Saviour. Through faith in Him they become one with God, and no one is shut out from salvation, for every person who has faith in Christ is offered its possibility by God's grace, power, and wisdom. Those who respond to Christ's drawing, receive and obey His Word, and return to loyalty and obedience are included among God's chosen people, chosen in Christ to become His obedient children.

Blessings Included in Christ

The blessings belong to those who are in Christ, redeemed by Him and responding to His drawing, bestowed by God's mercy and not earned by human merit. They include being chosen in Christ to live holy and blameless lives in love, adopted as God's children through Jesus Christ, accepted in the Beloved through grace, redeemed through Christ's blood, forgiven of sins by God's rich and abundant grace, and given an inheritance. Christ's mission is to save sinners from their sins, and the greatness of God's love and grace is expressed in this choosing, adopting, accepting, redeeming and forgiving, which calls believers to leave sin and self-serving desires and live in the privileges given them as His children. The blessings are heavenly in source and character and come through union with Christ.

They further include being given wisdom and knowledge of God's purpose and will, being promised an inheritance, and being sealed by the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of that inheritance. With choosing for holiness, adopting through Jesus, accepting by grace, and redeeming and forgiving, this knowledge and sealing reveal the power of true godliness and the lasting knowledge gained through vital connection with God. For students who obey the word, this knowledge shapes character for fellowship with the saints and brings blessing in this life and immortal life to come.

They include the Holy Spirit's grace and peace and the merits of Christ's righteousness from an unfailing source. They include Christ's peace, joy and glory, shared through a life molded by Christ and joined to the Word of God in loyalty to God and the highest measure of Christlike character. Through the merit of Christ's righteousness, Christ bears their sins, they lay their sins on Him rather than having them counted against them, and they receive peace and rest with God, for His sake receiving God's mercy and blessing while God is merciful to their unrighteousness and remembers their sins no more. God accepts people in Christ and pledges them the love He gives Christ when they return to loyalty through faith and repentance, and even the sparing of life is among the blessings given through the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by the heavenly Father, calling for gratefulness and praise to His holy name.

The blessings belong to the gift of grace offered to fallen humanity through the plan of redemption in the gospel, secured by Christ's self-sacrifice and including redemption, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. They display the glory of God's grace. The Lord's power and grace in them are manifested to His commandment-keeping people.

Union With Christ's Atonement

Through faith those who accept Christ as personal Saviour become one with God, and no one is shut out from salvation but all who return to loyalty and obedience are included among the chosen. Christ is the Mediator through whom every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm flows, and this provision makes it possible for people to be united with Him, calling for gratitude and praise. Those who come to Him in full assurance of faith have through Christ access to the Father and share in the divine nature, described as being chosen to be holy and blameless in love, adopted as children, and accepted in the Beloved. This belongs to the plan of redemption arranged by Father and Son, in which Christ pledged to make atonement and unite each believing soul to God, so that those who lay their sins on Him as Substitute and Surety become partakers of the divine nature.

God wills believers to be so thoroughly identified with His Son as to be one with Christ as Christ is one with the Father. Through faith the whole soul, body and spirit are bound up with Christ in God, so the believer shares the very same love with which Christ is loved by the Father and shares His glory, which is His character. By accepting Christ as personal Saviour a person is brought into the same close relation to God and enjoys His special favor as His own beloved Son, honored and glorified and intimately associated with God, with life hid with Christ in God.

The blessings come through the Father and Son's work for the whole world, in which Christ pledged to become humanity's substitute and surety after sin and His divine nature bore the transgressor's sins, providing peace for those who receive Him by faith. They include the Holy Spirit's grace and peace and the merits of Christ's righteousness, and God accepts people in Christ and pledges them the love He gives Christ when they return to loyalty through faith and repentance. Believers lay their sins on Christ, accept His merits and righteousness, and are united to God and reconciled to Him, while Christ asks the Father not to impute their sins to them but to bless them for His sake. For Christ's sake God does not count their sins against them but blesses them, bears their sins through the merit of His righteousness, gives peace and rest, is merciful to their unrighteousness and remembers their sins no more.

Christ left the courts of glory and came to this sin-polluted world, veiling His divinity with humanity and humbling Himself to human nature to meet and relieve the wants of the soul and bless believers through the work of atonement whose matchless depths of a Saviour's love cannot be described. The blessings are things unseen, true riches, unsearchable and durable riches that He purchased at immense cost to Himself. They are heavenly treasure that comes only with special self-denial and self-sacrifice, so that those who expect to possess it without them will at last be weighed in the balance and found wanting. Even those who are unworthy may come to God with petitions and receive all spiritual blessings through Christ, for those who love the Son and trust Him and believe in Him through faith are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ.

Assurance and Transformed Living

Those who love the Son and trust Him are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, and the blessing given them is no lesser than the blessing God gives His own Son. The Father loves believing people as He loves His Son, and this shows the greatness of His love and care for them. His infinite heart pities every weakness, and He strengthens and blesses to give good courage.

The verse assures those striving for the eternal kingdom that God has blessed them in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. It is an assurance of acceptance and a divine promise to be studied and claimed in all its depth and fullness by faith. Truly converted physicians and teachers are thus to trust the power of God instead of leaning on the arm of the law and trusting in the influence of worldly powers. Through Christ's merits God has abundantly provided every spiritual blessing, so that nothing needed for spiritual life is missing, and drawing near to God and abiding in Christ's presence lets believers discern God's promises and assurances and receive peace, freedom, courage, and power. Earthly, sensual attachments can obscure God's promises and hinder spiritual growth.

Those so blessed are called to leave sin and self-serving desires and to live in the privileges God gives them as His children, as those chosen to live holy lives, adopted as God's children, accepted by Him, and redeemed through Christ's blood with forgiveness of sins. The blessings belong to those who strive to do God's will, and a life and work honoring God gives Him praise and glory. Sharing in the spiritual blessings found in Christ, including His peace, joy, and glory, is shown by a life molded by Christ and joined to the Word of God, involving loyalty to God and the highest measure of Christlike character.

These privileges call for gratitude and praise to God. They call for a thankful spirit that appreciates His freely given grace. Those who receive these blessings should speak to others of God's goodness and mercy. Christ is the Mediator through whom all blessings flow, making it possible for people to be united with Him, and God as heavenly Father gives every spiritual blessing through the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, including even the sparing of life.

Through these blessings God accepts people, cleanses and sanctifies them, imputes Christ's righteousness to them, and lifts them into the enjoyment of His love and grace. Through them believers become channels of light to the world and cooperate with Christ in restoring God's moral image in fallen humanity. The Lord's power and grace in them are manifested to His commandment-keeping people, revealing the power of true godliness and the lasting knowledge gained through vital connection with God. They belong to a divine education and heights of spiritual life that human learning alone cannot reach but the true believer may attain through Christ. For students who obey the word, this knowledge, which includes being chosen for holiness, adopted through Jesus, accepted by grace, redeemed and forgiven, given knowledge of God's purpose, promised an inheritance, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, shapes character for fellowship with the saints and brings blessing in this life and immortal life to come.