2. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven.
4. In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. In his love he chose us to be his holy people—people without blame before him.
5. And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him.
6. This brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One he loves.
7. In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death. And so we have forgiveness of sins because of God’s rich grace.
8. God gave us that grace fully and freely. God, with full wisdom and understanding,
9. let us know his secret purpose. This was what God wanted, and he planned to do it through Christ.
15-16. That is why I always remember you in my prayers and always thank God for you. I have always done this since the time I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people.
17. I always pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ—to the glorious Father. I pray that he will give you a spirit that will make you wise in the knowledge of God—the knowledge that he has shown you.
18. I pray that you will have greater understanding in your heart. Then you will know the hope that God has chosen to give us. I pray that you will know that the blessings God has promised his holy people are rich and glorious.
19. And you will know that God’s power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength
20. God used to raise Christ from death and put him at his right side in heaven.
21. God made Christ more important than all rulers, authorities, powers, and kings. Christ is more important than anything in this world or in the next world.
22. God put everything under his power. And God made him the head over everything for the church.
23. The church is Christ’s body. The church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way.