tokajulo

I think the end of the term is when Jesus comes to reign again on this earth. When I am sealed by the Holy Spirit, it means I am kept as in possession for my final payment at the end of the term. The Holy Spirit keeps me in tune with the Father and helps me to more fully understand the Word. I am sealed by the Holy Spirit's presence in my life as if I had a huge downpayment on the most extravagant gift imaginable...to be fully heirs with Christ in heaven and on the new earth.

God purpose for our lives is to continue to praise Him with our whole lives. To bring to the world the light which is Christ Jesus. In order to fulfill this purpose, we have to accept our inheritance, which was predestined before time, and allow the Holy Spirit to fill the voids within us. Mathew 5: 13-16 goes on to expand our purpose here on earth by referring to us as the salt (or seasoning) for our fellow people. By living according to God's will in us (to praise Him and tell about His good news), we become like lights in a lighthouse, a beacon of hope for the weary. When people see that you are good and that you have their interest at the heart of your actions (good works), then you give praise and glory to the father, which is our intended purpose on this earth. It makes a continuous circle of praise, glory, praise, glory. Cool!

The significance is that everyone in every church of believers will be brought together to worship only Christ. All conflicts of doctrine will be washed away and all will finally be united under the one true god..Christ. Even the earth will be brought into submission before Him. The creator said that this unity was part of the redemption plan for the predestined in Christ (all men, if they will). It will be wonderful to note that all disease, hatred, pestilence, war will be over and the unity in one whole body of people and earth will be reunited under Christ. Eph 1:9-10 relates to the 1 Cor verse by showing that until all things are under Christ's feet and everyone is one united body then God the Father will be superior and Christ will be subject to Him. Then God will finally be over all.

I have been redeemed, saved, brought out of slavery of the bondage of my own thinking. I no longer must rely on my feelings or intellect to work through my feelings of hopelessness or even inferiority. I only have to look to Christ and realize who I really am in Him...the daughter of a king, holy in His sight. My life would have been more messy and the tragedy is there would have been more fall out, more strife with other people. I would have had a hard heart and not been able to see my part in hurting relationships. I believe I would have been constantly striving to fill the space where the Holy Spirit now dwells in me with tangible things linked to power, greed and ****. A future without redemption would be like living in a holocaust forever.

To be holy is to be perfect, without stain or blemish. God is holy. I am not. But through the holy spirit abiding within my body, and because this was a gift from the Father when I entered into communion with him through Jesus I am viewed as holy by an awesome God. Because I am washed (clothed) with the blood of Christ, my imperfect unholy self is hidden from God's sight and I stand blameless before him. My life is set apart to do god's will and my sins are washed clean. It is sometimes hard to convince myself of this fact, but when I walk according to the holy spirit and not according to my will (flesh), I can see more clearly God's will in my life.

adoption is attractive to us because we are chosen, it wasn't a random gene pool that caused us to be in the family. I am a daughter of Christ because he chose me to be his. Its a fantastic thing to be chosen like that. He is my father, my dad. He has my best interest at heart and he desires to see the best of me. I can rest in my assurance that I am the daughter of a king. When things go badly for me, I can rest in my identity in Christ and find peace there. I don't have to strive or convince anyone of my place in this world. I'm in the kingdom family! Wow.

I believe that predestination would be very scary for those who believe that they have no connection with Jesus and therefore no hope of salvation. For me, it is comforting to know that I (among all men) was predestined to sit at the right hand with Jesus in heaven. My only duty to fulfill my destiny is to believe upon His precious name. I think Paul needed to remind the gentiles that they had a place reserved for them in heaven and he praised God for sending Christ to die for them and adopt them (and me) as sons and daughters of the Holy Father! Of course, the Ephesians had to hear the good news and accept in faith their place with the Father.

To be in Christ means that I am infused with Him. Like tea. The more I allow time to steep with Him and feel myself being carried by him, the more effective I am in my everyday dealings with people and myself. I have far to go, and yet, I know that I am IN Christ and therefore, I can relax and let Him flow through and out of me.

Hi all. This is my first time on this forum and I'm excited to get started in the study of Ephesians. I'm married, have two young adult kids and teach special needs kids in a Christian school. I'm from St Louis, Mo.