Every Spiritual Blessing . . . In Christ – 4

expository teaching header 1

Scripture Reference: Ephesians 1:3-14

Every Spiritual Blessing – Continued

Assurance (verses 13-14)

So then, in verses 13-14, Paul reminds his readers that this inheritance cannot be taken away. For, when we believed, we were “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance.” The Spirit’s presence in our lives is a seal, an evidence of the fact that we really are God’s people. He is like God’s wax signature stamp on the scroll of our lives, indicating that we are the genuine article, that we really do belong to God. Further, if the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives is evidence that we belong to God, it is also a pledge, a promise, that, since we surely belong to God, God’s “inheritance” surely belongs to us! The Spirit’s presence in our lives, convicting (convincing, not sentencing) us of sin, illuminating God’s Word, helping us to pray, ordering our daily steps, and so on, brings about an assurance that we really are God’s people and that we will, therefore, surely inherit all the blessings the Apostle extols in this first chapter of Ephesians.

So, says Paul, we have been given “every spiritual blessing” in Christ. Moreover, through his own excitement and exultation, Paul informs us that, far from merely listing these blessings and mulling over each for a moment or two, we ought to bless God for them! Remember, Paul began this long sentence with the words, “Blessed be . . . God!” I hope you might pause, even in the middle of this study, to say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing!”

Now, let us continue on with the concept that we have every spiritual blessing “in Christ!”

In Christ

Perhaps you noticed that the words “in Christ,” and “in Him,” as well as other similar formulas are repeated over and again in Paul’s register of spiritual blessings:

“Every spiritual blessing” is ours “in Christ” (verse 3).
God chose us “in Him” (verse 4).
He predestined us to adoption as sons “by Jesus Christ” (verse 5).
God’s grace was freely bestowed upon us “in the Beloved” (verse 6).
“In Him” we have our redemption (verse 7).
The forgiveness of our trespasses comes “through His blood” (verse 7).
The mystery of God’s will unfolds “in Himself” (verse 9).
“In Him” we have obtained our inheritance (verses 10-11).
“In Him” we believed and were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (verse 13).

Paul is emphatic about this point. Yes, God has given us spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing. But He does not snatch these blessings out of thin air. No: the blessings of God are all ours “in Christ.” He is the chest in which are stored the treasures of sanctification, redemption, forgiveness, and so on. We would not (and could not) possess any of these things if Jesus hadn’t come and lived sinlessly where we didn’t and couldn’t; if He hadn’t died the death that we deserve; if He hadn’t risen on the third day; and if He wasn’t seated at the Father’s right hand, even now, interceding for us. “Every spiritual blessing” is ours only because of what Jesus has done on our behalf; only because God loved us enough to give us His only begotten Son; and only if we ourselves are truly “in Him.”

We can never sincerely and truly speak of heaven, of Christian growth, or of being God’s children without speaking of Jesus. We only possess these things “in Him!” Indeed, we should never even speak of the Holy Spirit divorced from Christ. For it is “in Him” that we have been “sealed . . . with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

To Be Continued

rightly dividing footer