The Coffee Hour – LW Searching the Scriptures, January 2022: Ephesians 1:1-14

Rev. Roy Askins, Managing Editor of The Lutheran Witness, joins Andy to talk about the “Searching the Scriptures” feature in the January 2022 issue of the Lutheran Witness titled “Ephesians: God’s eternal work marks the way we walk” on Ephesians 1:1-14. This year, “Searching the Scriptures” will study the book of Ephesians, so stay tuned each month for the next Bible study. Follow along and search the Scriptures with us!

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Ephesians 1:1-14

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful^[a] in Christ Jesus:

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵he predestined us^[b] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹making known^[c] to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

¹¹In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹²so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is the guarantee^[d] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,^[e] to the praise of his glory.

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Footnotes

Ephesians 1:1 Some manuscripts saints who are also faithful (omitting in Ephesus)
Ephesians 1:5 Or before him in love, ⁵having predestined us
Ephesians 1:9 Or he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known…
Ephesians 1:14 Or down payment
Ephesians 1:14 Or until God redeems his possession

The Coffee Hour is underwritten by Concordia University Wisconsin. Live Uncommon. Learn more at cuw.edu.

Have a topic you’d like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact Andy Bates at andrew.bates@kfuo.org or call 314-996-1519.

Sarah Gulseth

A proud Michigan native and fan of anything with the Mitten State on it, Digital Media Manager Sarah Gulseth is also a lover of historical war movies and anything with the label PBS Masterpiece. An avid bicyclist and women’s biking advocate, she rides her bike to work year-round and has the massive bike clothing and accessory collection to prove it. If it’s the weekend, she and her husband Luther are probably out riding bikes, or finding the next awesome coffee shop to frequent, or rehearsing for the next choir concert. You may also find her down a new rabbit hole on Google, researching the latest random fact she found on social media, while eating an unhealthy amount of apples (Macintosh from Michigan, of course) and raw almond butter.