What Spiritual Blessings Are Yours in Christ? | Morning Prayer

TL;DR

Believers in Christ already possess every spiritual blessing, including forgiveness, peace with God, access to his presence, the Holy Spirit, eternal life, and a new identity as his children. Ephesians 1 presents them as chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, and sealed according to God's grace rather than their works. Read on to see how these gifts shape identity, worship, obedience, and daily dependence on Jesus.

Transcript

Before we pray, let's first take a moment to listen to God's word and then we'll pray together. Everything God has done for you in Christ did not start at the cross. It began in the heart of God before the world was even formed. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus are not random events in history. They are the center of God's great plan to... Read More

Key Insights

• Blessing is a present possession: Ephesians 1:3 is presented as a statement of what believers already have in Christ. They are not standing outside God's care or waiting to become worthy of notice. Their spiritual wealth rests in Christ and includes forgiveness, peace, divine access, the Spirit, eternal life, and identity as God's children.
• God's plan precedes human response: The message says God's work did not begin at the cross, although the cross and resurrection stand at the center of his plan. His purpose was already present before the world was formed. This makes salvation a deliberate work of rescue, restoration, and adoption rather than a random reaction to events.
• Election carries a holy purpose: Being chosen is not presented merely as a source of comfort or status. Ephesians 1:4 connects God's choice with the purpose that believers should be holy and blameless before him in love. The gift of identity therefore creates a calling to live differently, with conduct shaped by belonging to God.
• Grace excludes personal boasting: Second Timothy 1:9 says salvation and the holy calling are not according to human works, but according to God's purpose and grace. Success does not cause God to choose someone, and failure does not make that choice an afterthought. The foundation is God's undeserved love rather than the believer's record.
• Adoption restores broken fellowship: Sin entered through disobedience and separated humanity from a holy God. Jesus, who knew no sin, took humanity's place so that believers might become God's righteousness in him. Forgiveness is therefore joined to family membership, fellowship with God, and the privilege of addressing him as Father.
• Jesus opens the way home: John 14:6 is explained as Jesus revealing the only open door to the Father, not simply closing a door. Receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior brings forgiveness and adoption. His blood covers shame and washes away sin, allowing the believer to enter God's family through him.
• Redemption changes the believer's standing: Ephesians 1:6-7 contrasts acceptance with rejection, redemption with abandonment, and forgiveness with condemnation. Because the penalty for sin was settled at the cross, believers no longer stand before God covered in guilt. They stand covered by the riches of grace provided through Jesus' blood.
• The Spirit marks divine ownership: Ephesians 1:13 places the seal of the Holy Spirit after hearing the word of truth, trusting Christ, and believing the gospel. The seal identifies believers as belonging to God. It is also described as God's presence within them and his guarantee that he will finish the work he began.
• Spiritual wealth surpasses material wealth: The believer's riches are identified not as material possessions but as blessings that cannot be taken away. Being chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, and sealed gives a durable basis for security. The proper response is worship and gratitude for the cross, the empty tomb, and the indwelling Spirit.
• Identity rests on God's declaration: Past failures, achievements, and other people's opinions do not define the believer's final standing. God's words provide the controlling identity: chosen, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, adopted, and possessed by him. This identity supports peace and gratitude while also calling the believer to live consistently with belonging to God.
• Separation means visible devotion: The prayer applies the call to be set apart to words, thoughts, decisions, and desires. It rejects being shaped by sin, pride, selfishness, materialism, comfort, success, and human approval. Holiness is therefore described as an undivided life that honors God publicly and privately, including when no one else is watching.
• Abiding supplies faithful strength: The prayer acknowledges that believers cannot produce spiritual fruit independently. Staying close to Jesus through prayer, God's word, and obedience is presented as the basis of fruitfulness. God works within believers to reshape their desires and strengthen their will, enabling them to deny selfish impulses, resist temptation, pursue righteousness, and follow Christ.

Questions & Answers

Q: What spiritual blessings are yours in Christ?

Those in Christ already possess every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. The message names forgiveness, peace with God, access to his presence, the Holy Spirit, eternal life, and a new identity as God's child. Ephesians 1 also describes believers as chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, and sealed. These blessings come through Christ and rest on God's grace, so they are received rather than earned through personal goodness.

Q: What does it mean to be chosen by God in Christ?

It means God's love and purpose preceded the believer's birth, failures, successes, and works. Ephesians 1:4 says believers were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. The purpose of this choice is that they should be holy and blameless before God in love. Second Timothy 1:9 explains why this calling is secure: it rests on God's purpose and grace, not human merit.

Q: How does Jesus bring believers into God's family?

Sin broke fellowship between humanity and a holy God, but Jesus took humanity's place at the cross. Second Corinthians 5:21 says the one who knew no sin was made sin for us so that we might become God's righteousness in him. Those who receive Jesus as Lord and Savior are forgiven and adopted into God's family. Through the Spirit of adoption, they can call God Father because Jesus has opened the way to him.

Q: What does redemption through Jesus' blood accomplish?

Redemption through Jesus' blood provides forgiveness and settles the penalty for sin at the cross. Ephesians 1:6-7 says believers are accepted in the beloved and forgiven according to the riches of God's grace. They therefore stand before God covered by grace instead of guilt. Romans 8:1 supports this standing by declaring no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Q: What does being sealed with the Holy Spirit mean?

Being sealed means being marked as someone who belongs to God. Ephesians 1:13 connects this seal with hearing the gospel of salvation, trusting Christ, and believing. The Holy Spirit is God's presence within the believer and his guarantee that he will finish what he started. Philippians 1:6 grounds that confidence in God's commitment to complete his good work until the day of Jesus Christ.

Q: How should spiritual blessings affect daily life?

They should lead first to worship, gratitude, and thanksgiving for the cross, the empty tomb, and the Holy Spirit. They also give believers confidence that their past is forgiven, their present is held by God, and their future is secure in Christ. That secure identity supports a life set apart for God rather than shaped by worldly values. Words, thoughts, decisions, and desires should increasingly reflect that the believer belongs to him.

Q: How can believers renew their minds and resist worldly values?

The prayer asks God to change the believer's thoughts and desires through his truth. Renewal involves recognizing lies, resisting sin, pride, selfishness, materialism, comfort, success, and dependence on human approval. The goal is not merely different thoughts, but words, decisions, and desires that honor God. This change depends on God's grace and strength rather than independent human effort.

Q: Why must believers abide in Christ?

Believers must abide in Christ because they cannot produce spiritual fruit independently from him. The message describes abiding as remaining close to Jesus through prayer, Scripture, and obedience. This dependence allows God to reshape desires and strengthen the will to resist temptation, pursue righteousness, and follow Christ faithfully. Abiding matters because the life set apart for God must be sustained by his work within the believer.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Blessed before earning anything: Ephesians 1:3 says that those in Christ have already received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. These gifts include forgiveness, peace with God, access to his presence, the Holy Spirit, eternal life, and a new identity as God's child. They are not rewards that believers must earn. They flow through Christ from God's plan to rescue, restore, and bring people into his family through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.

• Chosen according to grace: Ephesians 1:4 says believers were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before God in love. Their failures, successes, and works did not initiate this choice. Second Timothy 1:9 connects salvation and a holy calling to God's own purpose and grace. The message therefore presents Christian identity as grounded in God's prior love and purposeful calling, not in personal goodness, achievement, or merit.

• Adopted through Jesus Christ: Ephesians 1:5 describes believers as predestined for adoption through Jesus according to God's will. Although sin broke fellowship with God, the sinless Son took humanity's place and carried sin at the cross. Through his sacrifice, believers are forgiven, brought into God's family, and enabled by the Spirit of adoption to call God Father. Jesus is presented as the open way to the Father, with shame covered and sins washed away through his blood.

• Redeemed, accepted, and sealed: Ephesians 1:6-7 says believers are accepted in the beloved and receive redemption and forgiveness through Jesus' blood according to the riches of grace. The penalty for sin was settled at the cross, so those in Christ stand before God under grace rather than condemnation. Ephesians 1:13 adds that those who hear the gospel, trust Christ, and believe are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, marking them as God's possession and guaranteeing his continuing work.

• Praying for a changed life: The message turns these truths into worship, gratitude, and a prayer for holiness. The believer thanks God for the cross, the empty tomb, forgiveness of the past, security in the present, and hope for the future. The prayer then asks for grace to live set apart, with words, thoughts, decisions, and desires reflecting belonging to God. It also seeks renewed thinking, resistance to temptation, freedom from worldly values, and faithful dependence on Jesus through prayer, Scripture, and obedience.