Bible Glide

Ephesians 1 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Ephesians 1 begins with Paul's greeting and then moves into worshipful teaching about what God has done in Christ. It highlights spiritual blessings, forgiveness, adoption, the gift of the Spirit, and Christ's rule over all things. The chapter ends with Paul's prayer for deeper understanding and hope.

What happens in Ephesians 1?

Paul greets the believers in Ephesus with grace and peace, then blesses God for every spiritual blessing given in Christ. He speaks of being chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, and sealed with the Holy Spirit. The passage also describes God's plan to unite all things in Christ at the right time. In the second half, Paul thanks God for the Ephesians' faith and love and prays that they would grow in wisdom, hope, and insight into God's power. The chapter closes by exalting Christ above every power and naming the church as His body.

This chapter opens Paul's letter to the Ephesians. It sets the tone for the whole book by focusing on God's saving work, Christ's authority, and the church's identity. The prayer at the end prepares readers for the practical teaching that follows in later chapters.

  • Blessing in ChristGod is praised for the saving gifts given through Jesus, including forgiveness, adoption, and hope.
  • God's PurposeThe passage shows that God's plan reaches from eternity to the final gathering of all things in Christ.
  • Prayer and RevelationPaul asks God to deepen believers' understanding of hope, inheritance, and divine power.
  • What stands out most to you about the blessings God gives in Christ in this chapter?
  • How does Paul's prayer shape the way you think about spiritual growth and understanding?
  • What does this chapter teach about Christ's authority over the church and over all powers?

Read the full text of Ephesians 1 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Ephesians

Ephesians 1

Paul’s Greeting to the Ephesians

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

Spiritual Blessings

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.4For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love5He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,6to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace8that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.9And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ10as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.11In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory.13And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,14who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.

Spiritual Wisdom

15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.18I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,19and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,20which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.22And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

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