Study Desk

God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan.

Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.

The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.

Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles.

As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me.

God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.

God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.

And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.