Forgiveness and Reconciliation with God
Your Biblical Identity in Christ
Ephesians 1:11-22
You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.
– Ephesians 1:13-14
11 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.
12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13 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. 14 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.
Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom
15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 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.
19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.
In Christ, I have been marked as God’s possession with a seal: the promised Holy Spirit. I now live to the praise of His glory.
When you become a disciple of Jesus, God puts a deposit in you – His Holy Spirit. With that Spirit, God guarantees your inheritance with Him. You can, as they say, “bank on it”. You now exist, not to live for sin or for self, but for the praise of His glory. Let me repeat that differently: As disciples of Jesus, we no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who lives in us. And we don’t want to let sin co-mingle with Jesus in our bodies, but crucify sin. Apostle Paul says it this way:
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Prayer for the Day
Father God, help me to find my true identity by living for You – and by allowing Jesus Christ, who lives in me, to shine through in my daily life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.