New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Ephesians 1
1
I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. I am sending this letter to you, God's people in Ephesus. Because you belong to Christ Jesus, you are faithful.
Reference
Faith
Colossians 1:2
Ephesians 6:21
1 Corinthians 4:17
Luke 16:10
Holy
2 Corinthians 1:1
Romans 1:7
References Jesus
Galatians 1:1
Romans 1:1
3
Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Those blessings come from the heavenly world. They belong to us because we belong to Christ.
Reference
Blessing
1 Peter 1:3
2 Corinthians 1:3
Genesis 22:18
Psalm 72:19
Galatians 3:9
1 Chronicles 4:10
References Christ
Ephesians 1:20
References God
Ephesians 3:10
References Jesus
Ephesians 2:6
Spirit
Ephesians 6:12
4
God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes. He loved us.
Reference
Holy
2 Timothy 1:9
1 Peter 2:9
Love
James 2:5
Colossians 3:12
Parallel theme
Ephesians 2:10
Matthew 25:34
Revelation 13:8
John 15:16
1 Peter 1:2
1 Peter 1:20
5
So he decided long ago to adopt us as his children. He did it because of what Jesus Christ has done. It pleased God to do it.
Reference
Good
Jeremiah 3:19
Ephesians 1:9
Parallel theme
Ephesians 1:11
1 John 3:1
John 1:12
Romans 8:23
2 Corinthians 6:18
Revelation 21:7
Hosea 1:10
References Jesus
Galatians 3:26
6
All those things bring praise to his glorious grace. God freely gave us his grace because of the One he loves.
Reference
Glory
Ephesians 1:12
Philippians 4:19
Ephesians 1:14
Philippians 1:11
1 Peter 4:11
Love
Matthew 3:17
Parallel theme
Colossians 1:13
Isaiah 42:1
Resurrection
1 Peter 2:9
Isaiah 43:21
7
We have been set free because of what Christ has done. Through his blood our sins have been forgiven. We have been set free because God's grace is so rich.
Reference
Blood
Hebrews 9:22
Grace
Romans 3:24
Psalm 130:7
Ephesians 2:7
Parallel theme
Philippians 4:19
Redemption
Colossians 1:14
Revelation 5:9
Sin
1 Peter 2:24
Matthew 26:28
1 John 2:12
9
He showed us the mystery of his plan. It was in keeping with what he wanted to do. It was what he had planned through Christ.
Reference
10
It will all come about when history has been completed. God will then bring together all things in heaven and on earth under one ruler. The ruler is Christ.
Reference
11
We were also chosen to belong to him. God decided to choose us long ago in keeping with his plan. He works out everything to fit his plan and purpose.
Reference
12
We were the first to put our hope in Christ. We were chosen to bring praise to his glory.
Reference
Faith
Isaiah 12:2
Psalm 2:12
Glory
Ephesians 1:6
Isaiah 45:25
Isaiah 11:10
Ephesians 3:21
Parallel theme
2 Thessalonians 2:13
James 1:18
Isaiah 45:23
Jeremiah 23:6
13
You also became believers in Christ. That happened when you heard the message of truth. It was the good news about how you could be saved. When you believed, he marked you with a seal. The seal is the Holy Spirit that he promised.
Reference
Covenant
Acts 2:33
Faith
1 Thessalonians 2:13
Romans 4:11
Galatians 3:14
Holy
Ephesians 4:30
Parallel theme
2 Timothy 2:19
Salvation
Titus 2:11
Romans 1:16
Spirit
2 Corinthians 1:22
Joel 2:28
14
The Spirit marks us as God's own. We can now be sure that someday we will receive all that God has promised. That will happen after God sets all of his people completely free. All of those things will bring praise to his glory.
Reference
Glory
Ephesians 1:12
Parallel theme
2 Corinthians 5:5
2 Corinthians 1:22
Galatians 4:6
Acts 20:32
Psalm 78:54
Redemption
Ephesians 4:30
Romans 8:23
Psalm 74:2
15
I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus. I have also heard about your love for all of God's people. That is why
Reference
16
I have not stopped thanking God for you. I always remember you in my prayers.
Reference
Kingdom
1 Thessalonians 1:2
Parallel theme
2 Thessalonians 1:3
Isaiah 62:6
1 Samuel 7:8
Prayer
Colossians 1:9
Colossians 1:3
1 Thessalonians 5:17
1 Samuel 12:23
17
I pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the glorious Father. I keep asking him to give you the wisdom and understanding that come from the Holy Spirit. I want you to know God better.
Reference
Glory
2 Peter 1:3
2 Peter 3:18
Parallel theme
Matthew 11:27
References God
Proverbs 2:5
Jeremiah 24:7
References Jesus
John 17:3
Spirit
Isaiah 11:2
Ephesians 1:3
1 Corinthians 2:10
Ephesians 3:5
18
I also pray that your mind might see more clearly. Then you will know the hope God has chosen you to receive. You will know that the things God's people will receive are rich and glorious.
Reference
Glory
2 Corinthians 4:6
Ephesians 3:16
Holy
Acts 26:18
Hope
Ephesians 4:4
Titus 3:7
Light
Ephesians 5:8
Parallel theme
Luke 24:45
Ephesians 1:7
Psalm 119:18
Isaiah 42:7
19
And you will know his great power. It can't be compared with anything else. It is at work for us who believe. It is like the mighty strength
Reference
Faith
Colossians 2:12
Romans 1:16
2 Thessalonians 1:11
Kingdom
Colossians 1:29
Ephesians 3:7
Parallel theme
Philippians 2:13
Ephesians 3:20
2 Corinthians 4:7
Ephesians 6:10
Ephesians 2:10
20
God showed when he raised Christ from the dead. He seated him at his right hand in his heavenly kingdom.
Reference
Parallel theme
Hebrews 10:12
Mark 16:19
Psalm 110:1
Hebrews 1:3
Matthew 28:18
Resurrection
Philippians 3:10
21
There Christ sits far above all who rule and have authority. He also sits far above all powers and kings. He is above every title that can be given in this world and in the world to come.
Reference
22
God placed all things under Christ's rule. He appointed him to be ruler over everything for the church.
Reference
Summary of Ephesians 1
Ephesians 1 presents a sweeping picture of God's eternal plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, explaining that believers were chosen and adopted through Christ, redeemed and forgiven through His sacrifice, sealed with the Holy Spirit, given an inheritance, and united under Christ, while Paul prays that they will understand the hope, inheritance, and extraordinary power that belong to those who trust Him.
Paul begins by greeting the believers and immediately moves into a long declaration of praise to God for the spiritual blessings that believers possess through Christ, emphasizing that salvation originates in God's eternal purpose rather than in human achievement.
Before creation, God chose believers in Christ to be holy and adopted them as His children according to His gracious purpose, showing that Christian salvation is presented as part of God's eternal plan.
Through Jesus, believers receive redemption and forgiveness, because Christ gave Himself for them and God's grace provides the basis for their restored relationship with Him.
Paul then explains that God has revealed the mystery of His will, which is ultimately to bring everything in heaven and on earth together under Christ, presenting Jesus as the central figure of God's entire plan for creation.
Believers have received an inheritance according to God's purpose, and Gentile believers are included fully in this inheritance because they heard the gospel, believed in Christ, and were sealed with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit functions as a guarantee of the believers' future inheritance, providing present assurance that God's promised redemption will ultimately be completed.
Paul then shifts from praise to prayer, expressing gratitude for the Ephesians' faith and love while asking God to give them greater spiritual wisdom so that they can know Him more deeply.
He especially wants them to understand the hope of God's calling, the riches of His inheritance, and the greatness of His power toward believers.
Paul identifies that divine power with the power God demonstrated when He raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him above every authority, ruler, power, and name.
The chapter concludes by declaring that God has placed all things under Christ's authority and appointed Him as head over the church, which Paul describes as Christ's body and the community through which His presence is expressed.
The central message of Ephesians 1 is that God has established an eternal plan to bring all things under Christ, giving believers adoption, redemption, forgiveness, spiritual inheritance, and the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their future hope, while calling them to understand the extraordinary greatness of God's power and their identity as members of Christ's body.
Paul begins by praising God rather than immediately addressing a problem.
This is important because Ephesians begins with a broad view of what God has accomplished through Christ.
Paul wants believers to understand that their Christian identity is not primarily determined by their circumstances, social position, nationality, achievements, or failures.
Their identity is found in Christ.
Paul describes believers as people who have received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm through Jesus.
These blessings include being chosen, adopted, accepted through grace, redeemed, forgiven, given an inheritance, and sealed with the Holy Spirit.
The chapter therefore provides a remarkably rich description of what it means to belong to Christ.
Paul first explains that God chose believers in Christ before the foundation of the world.
The purpose of this choosing is connected with holiness and blamelessness before God.
Paul then describes believers as being predestined for adoption through Jesus Christ.
The image of adoption emphasizes relationship.
God does not merely rescue people from punishment and leave them without a new identity.
He brings them into His family.
This means that the believer's relationship with God is personal and intimate rather than merely legal.
Paul then focuses on redemption.
Through Christ, believers have redemption and forgiveness according to the richness of God's grace.
The foundation of this redemption is Christ's blood, pointing to His sacrificial death on the cross.
Paul's emphasis throughout the chapter is therefore that salvation comes from what God has accomplished through Christ rather than from what human beings accomplish for themselves.
He then reveals what he calls the mystery of God's will.
This mystery is not presented as an unsolvable secret.
Instead, it is something God has now revealed through Christ.
God's ultimate purpose is to bring everything together under Christ.
The division between heaven and earth, between different peoples and competing authorities, will ultimately be brought under the rule of Jesus.
Christ therefore stands at the center of God's plan for all creation.
Paul then emphasizes the believer's inheritance.
Those who belong to Christ have a promised future because their salvation is connected with God's eternal purpose.
This is especially important for the Gentile believers addressed in the letter.
They are not second-class members of God's people.
They have heard the gospel, believed in Christ, and received the Holy Spirit just as other believers have.
The Holy Spirit is described as a seal and guarantee of the inheritance.
A seal represented ownership, identity, authenticity, or authority.
A guarantee or down payment represented the beginning of something that would later be completed.
Paul therefore teaches that the presence of the Holy Spirit provides believers with assurance that God's promised future will ultimately become reality.
After describing these blessings, Paul begins to pray.
His prayer is especially significant because he does not primarily ask God to make the Ephesians wealthier, healthier, more powerful, or more comfortable.
He asks that they receive wisdom and spiritual understanding so that they may know God more deeply.
Paul wants their understanding to be transformed.
He wants them to see their Christian identity from God's perspective.
He specifically prays that they will understand three major realities: the hope of God's calling, the riches of God's inheritance, and the greatness of God's power toward believers.
The hope of God's calling points toward the future God has promised.
The riches of His inheritance emphasize the extraordinary value of belonging to God's people.
The greatness of His power reminds believers that their Christian life does not depend solely upon their own strength.
Paul then explains exactly what kind of power he means.
It is the power that God demonstrated when He raised Jesus from the dead.
The resurrection is therefore not merely a historical event in Paul's argument.
It is the supreme demonstration of God's power and the foundation of Christian hope.
The same God who raised Christ possesses authority over every spiritual and earthly power.
Paul says Christ has been exalted above every ruler, authority, power, and name.
This would have been especially meaningful in the ancient world, where people lived under powerful political authorities and within cultures filled with competing religious and spiritual claims.
Paul's message is that none of these powers is greater than Christ.
Jesus is above every authority in the present age and the age to come.
God has placed all things under Christ's feet and has appointed Him as head over the church.
The church is then described as Christ's body.
This image communicates both unity and dependence.
The church is not simply an organization that follows Jesus from a distance.
It is spiritually connected to Him.
Christ is the head, and believers collectively form His body.
This also prepares for later teaching in Ephesians about unity among different kinds of believers.
Overall, Ephesians 1 teaches that God's plan for salvation was established according to His eternal purpose, fulfilled through Christ's death and resurrection, extended to Jews and Gentiles alike, confirmed through the Holy Spirit, and directed toward the final uniting of all things under Christ, while believers are called to understand the extraordinary hope, inheritance, and divine power that belong to their new identity in Him.
Paul begins by greeting the believers and immediately moves into a long declaration of praise to God for the spiritual blessings that believers possess through Christ, emphasizing that salvation originates in God's eternal purpose rather than in human achievement.
Before creation, God chose believers in Christ to be holy and adopted them as His children according to His gracious purpose, showing that Christian salvation is presented as part of God's eternal plan.
Through Jesus, believers receive redemption and forgiveness, because Christ gave Himself for them and God's grace provides the basis for their restored relationship with Him.
Paul then explains that God has revealed the mystery of His will, which is ultimately to bring everything in heaven and on earth together under Christ, presenting Jesus as the central figure of God's entire plan for creation.
Believers have received an inheritance according to God's purpose, and Gentile believers are included fully in this inheritance because they heard the gospel, believed in Christ, and were sealed with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit functions as a guarantee of the believers' future inheritance, providing present assurance that God's promised redemption will ultimately be completed.
Paul then shifts from praise to prayer, expressing gratitude for the Ephesians' faith and love while asking God to give them greater spiritual wisdom so that they can know Him more deeply.
He especially wants them to understand the hope of God's calling, the riches of His inheritance, and the greatness of His power toward believers.
Paul identifies that divine power with the power God demonstrated when He raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him above every authority, ruler, power, and name.
The chapter concludes by declaring that God has placed all things under Christ's authority and appointed Him as head over the church, which Paul describes as Christ's body and the community through which His presence is expressed.
The central message of Ephesians 1 is that God has established an eternal plan to bring all things under Christ, giving believers adoption, redemption, forgiveness, spiritual inheritance, and the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their future hope, while calling them to understand the extraordinary greatness of God's power and their identity as members of Christ's body.
Paul begins by praising God rather than immediately addressing a problem.
This is important because Ephesians begins with a broad view of what God has accomplished through Christ.
Paul wants believers to understand that their Christian identity is not primarily determined by their circumstances, social position, nationality, achievements, or failures.
Their identity is found in Christ.
Paul describes believers as people who have received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm through Jesus.
These blessings include being chosen, adopted, accepted through grace, redeemed, forgiven, given an inheritance, and sealed with the Holy Spirit.
The chapter therefore provides a remarkably rich description of what it means to belong to Christ.
Paul first explains that God chose believers in Christ before the foundation of the world.
The purpose of this choosing is connected with holiness and blamelessness before God.
Paul then describes believers as being predestined for adoption through Jesus Christ.
The image of adoption emphasizes relationship.
God does not merely rescue people from punishment and leave them without a new identity.
He brings them into His family.
This means that the believer's relationship with God is personal and intimate rather than merely legal.
Paul then focuses on redemption.
Through Christ, believers have redemption and forgiveness according to the richness of God's grace.
The foundation of this redemption is Christ's blood, pointing to His sacrificial death on the cross.
Paul's emphasis throughout the chapter is therefore that salvation comes from what God has accomplished through Christ rather than from what human beings accomplish for themselves.
He then reveals what he calls the mystery of God's will.
This mystery is not presented as an unsolvable secret.
Instead, it is something God has now revealed through Christ.
God's ultimate purpose is to bring everything together under Christ.
The division between heaven and earth, between different peoples and competing authorities, will ultimately be brought under the rule of Jesus.
Christ therefore stands at the center of God's plan for all creation.
Paul then emphasizes the believer's inheritance.
Those who belong to Christ have a promised future because their salvation is connected with God's eternal purpose.
This is especially important for the Gentile believers addressed in the letter.
They are not second-class members of God's people.
They have heard the gospel, believed in Christ, and received the Holy Spirit just as other believers have.
The Holy Spirit is described as a seal and guarantee of the inheritance.
A seal represented ownership, identity, authenticity, or authority.
A guarantee or down payment represented the beginning of something that would later be completed.
Paul therefore teaches that the presence of the Holy Spirit provides believers with assurance that God's promised future will ultimately become reality.
After describing these blessings, Paul begins to pray.
His prayer is especially significant because he does not primarily ask God to make the Ephesians wealthier, healthier, more powerful, or more comfortable.
He asks that they receive wisdom and spiritual understanding so that they may know God more deeply.
Paul wants their understanding to be transformed.
He wants them to see their Christian identity from God's perspective.
He specifically prays that they will understand three major realities: the hope of God's calling, the riches of God's inheritance, and the greatness of God's power toward believers.
The hope of God's calling points toward the future God has promised.
The riches of His inheritance emphasize the extraordinary value of belonging to God's people.
The greatness of His power reminds believers that their Christian life does not depend solely upon their own strength.
Paul then explains exactly what kind of power he means.
It is the power that God demonstrated when He raised Jesus from the dead.
The resurrection is therefore not merely a historical event in Paul's argument.
It is the supreme demonstration of God's power and the foundation of Christian hope.
The same God who raised Christ possesses authority over every spiritual and earthly power.
Paul says Christ has been exalted above every ruler, authority, power, and name.
This would have been especially meaningful in the ancient world, where people lived under powerful political authorities and within cultures filled with competing religious and spiritual claims.
Paul's message is that none of these powers is greater than Christ.
Jesus is above every authority in the present age and the age to come.
God has placed all things under Christ's feet and has appointed Him as head over the church.
The church is then described as Christ's body.
This image communicates both unity and dependence.
The church is not simply an organization that follows Jesus from a distance.
It is spiritually connected to Him.
Christ is the head, and believers collectively form His body.
This also prepares for later teaching in Ephesians about unity among different kinds of believers.
Overall, Ephesians 1 teaches that God's plan for salvation was established according to His eternal purpose, fulfilled through Christ's death and resurrection, extended to Jews and Gentiles alike, confirmed through the Holy Spirit, and directed toward the final uniting of all things under Christ, while believers are called to understand the extraordinary hope, inheritance, and divine power that belong to their new identity in Him.