Ephesians 1:1-6

I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. I am sending this letter to you, God’s holy people in Ephesus. Because you belong to Christ Jesus, you are faithful. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Those blessings come from the heavenly world. They belong to us because we belong to Christ. God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes. He loved us. So he decided long ago to adopt us. He adopted us as his children with all the rights children have. He did it because of what Jesus Christ has done. It pleased God to do it. All those things bring praise to his glorious grace. God freely gave us his grace because of the One he loves.