Despite being in prison facing a death sentence, Paul opens his letter by reminding the church of all the blessings they have. He writes of God’s initiative in salvation but also the need for each Christian to make a decision. God is working out His purposes.

Paul explains that salvation means that God’s Holy Spirit comes into your life bringing the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and placed him at the right hand of the Father with all that that implies.

Paul prays that the Ephesians will know how wide, how long, how high and how deep God’s love is so that they can be strengthened in their faith and understanding of God.

The Gospel and Adoption into God’s Family: Galatians 4:1-7Paul introduces the ideas of adoption and inheritance based on the experience of the Gentile areas he is preaching to. Adopted children could inherit all that belonged to the family. All those blessings are ours in Christ Jesus. We do not need to look back.

Paul explains the three dimensional Christian life: the past - justification; the present - access to God’s grace: and the future - eternity with God. Suffering is a part of life but we have the Holy Spirit to enable us

Paul encourages his readers to believe that they have moved from a life in slavery to sin to living in God’s grace. He refers to baptism which clearly shows dying to the old life and rising up to new life. We need to count ourselves dead to sin.

On the basis of Paul’s argument until this point, he states that the Christian is living a new experience of God’s forgiveness. Paul uses the imagery of baptism and the sacrificial ritual of the Day of Atonement to explain Christ’s death on the cross. He defines what it is to be a Christian.

Paul believed that many Christians did not live their new life fully in the power of the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we are obliged to please God. a radical change has been made in that now we are God’s children and can call him, Our Father. We are adopted into God’s family and are joint heirs with Jesus.

Paul explains the five steps of God working in our lives. He knew us before we were born, he gave us the opportunity of salvation. He calls us. He has justified us and he will glorify us. Nothing can separate us from God - he is in control. God works everything for our good.

Paul is alone in Athens. He engages with the Jews in the synagogue and the Epicureans and Stoics in the marketplace. He introduces them to new ideas about God, the afterlife and Jesus.