Chapter 1: The Believer's Place in Christ

•VERSE 1 The theme of this book is that we are in Christ Jesus (John 15).

•VERSE 2 Remember that “Lord” is a title, not part of the name of Jesus. “Christ” is His distinction, for He is the Messiah.

•VERSE 3 There has to be a work of God in our lives before we can do something for Him.

We need to see our position in Christ, seated with Him in heavenly places, before we can learn to walk the Christian walk.

•VERSE 4 The first blessing we have in Christ is that we were chosen by God.

•VERSE 6 The second blessing is that God has accepted us through Jesus Christ.

God will not and cannot accept us apart from Jesus.

•VERSE 7 The third blessing is that we've been redeemed by the shed blood of Christ and that our sins have been forgiven (Psalm 32:1).

•VERSE 8 God's grace has abounded toward us.

•VERSES 9-10 The fourth blessing is that God has made His will known to us: that Christ may be the center of all.

•VERSE 11 The fifth blessing is that we've been given an inheritance in the Kingdom of God.

•VERSES 13-14 After we heard the Gospel and believed, God gave us the Holy Spirit as proof of His intention to complete our redemption.

•VERSE 15 Faith and love go hand-in-hand.

•VERSE 16 It's important that we study Paul's prayer to learn how to pray more effectively.

•VERSE 17 Philippians 3:10; Job 11:7.

We can only have the true knowledge of God as the Holy Spirit reveals Him to us.

•VERSE 18 Once we know the glory that God has in store for us, the world loses its attraction. God values us highly and considers the saints a rich inheritance.

•VERSES 19-23 What a vast source of power God is, but how little of His power we appropriate in our lives.