She had gone down in history as "America’s Greatest Miser." Yet when she died in 1916, "Hetty" Green left an estate valued at over $100 million. She ate cold oatmeal because it cost to heat it. Her son had to suffer a leg amputation, because she delayed so long in looking for a free clinic that his case became incurable. She was wealthy, yet she chose to live like a destitute person.

Eccentric? Certainly! Crazy? Maybe. She hastened her own death by bringing on a stroke while arguing about the value of drinking skimmed milk! 

Hetty Green is an illustration of too many Christian believers today. We have limitless wealth at our disposal, and yet we live like spiritual indigents. Today many Christians spend a great deal of time and effort vainly looking for blessings already available to us.  

We pray for Light, Strength, Love, Grace, and Peace when the Bible teaches that these things are already ours.

This is what I want you to learn in our study in Ephesians. We don’t have to ask God to give us spiritual blessings. This is unscriptural. We need to thank Him for what He has given us, and appropriate what Christ as already done! See 2 Peter 1:1-11

Some names in history we identify immediately, and Paul is one of them. His name was originally "Saul" (Acts 7:58); and, since he was from the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:5), it is likely he was named after the first king of Israel (1 Sam. 9). Unlike his namesake, however, Saul of Tarsus was obedient, and faithfully served God. As a devoted rabbi, Saul became the leader of the antichristian movement in Jerusalem (Acts 9:1-2; Gal. 1:13-14). Yet, in the midst of this activity, Saul was "arrested" by Jesus Christ and was converted (Acts 9:3, 26).  

Saul of Tarsus became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15). While he was ministering in the church of Antioch, he was called by the Spirit to take the Gospel to the Gentiles, and he obeyed (Acts 13:1-3). The Book of Acts records three missionary journeys that took Paul throughout the Roman Empire. It was one of the greatest evangelistic endeavors in church history. About the year 53 AD, Paul first ministered in Ephesus but did not remain there (Acts 18:19-21). Two years later, while on his third journey, Paul stayed in Ephesus for at least two years and saw that whole vast area evangelized (Acts 19:1-20). During these years, he found a culture in the city that was dedicated to the worship of the goddess Diana. For a description of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, read Acts 20, and for an explanation of the opposition to Paul’s ministry there, read Acts 19:21-41.  

It was nearly ten years later when Paul wrote to his beloved friends in Ephesus. Paul was a prisoner in Rome (Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 6:20), and he wanted to share with these believers the great truths the Lord had taught him about Christ and the church. Compare Ephesians 6:21-22 with Colossians 4:7-9 and Philemon to get a better understanding of the historical background.   

Onesimus, a slave, ran away from Philemon, his master, who lived at Colosse. While in Rome, Onesimus met Paul and was converted. Tychicus, one of the pastors of the church at Colossae, which may have met in Philemon’s house, was also in Rome to discuss some problems with Paul. So Paul took advantage of the presence of these two men to send three letters to his friends: the Epistle to the Ephesians, Colossians, and the Epistle to Philemon. At the same time, he sent Onesimus back to his master, Philemon. These, including Philippians are called "prison epistles."  

So, the letter was written from Rome about the year A.D. 62. Though Paul was on trial for his life, he was concerned about the spiritual needs of the churches he had founded. As an apostle, "one sent with a commission," he had an obligation to teach them the Word of God and build them up in the faith. (Eph. 4:11-12).

Are you surprised to find Paul addressing his letter to saints? After all, saints are dead people who have achieved such spiritual eminence that they have been given that special title, saints. Or are they?  

No word in the New Testament has suffered more than this word saint. Even the dictionary defines a saint as a "person officially recognized for holiness of life."

Who makes this official recognition? Usually some religious body. The process by which a person becomes a "saint" is technically known as canonization. This process was essentially invented by religious entities, especially the Roman Catholic Church. The deceased person’s life is examined carefully to see whether the person qualifies for sainthood. If the candidate’s character and conduct are found to be above reproach, if he has been responsible for working at least two miracles, then he or she may be qualified to be made a saint.  If so, the they are basically "deified" and exalted to "sainthood".  Really this is a kind of idolatry.

As interesting as this procedure can be, we do not find it authorized in the Bible. Nine times in this brief letter, Paul addresses his readers as "saints". These saints were alive, not dead, though once they had been "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1-3). And it is clear that they had never performed any miracles, though they had experienced a miracle by trusting Christ as Savior (Eph. 2:4-10). The word saint is simply one of the many terms used in the New Testament to describe "one who has trusted Jesus Christ as Savior."

 (See Eph. 1:1, 15, 18; 2:19; 3:8, 18; 4:12; 5:3; 6:18)

Saints are "alive", not only physically, but also spiritually (Eph. 2:1). You will find Christians called disciples (Acts 9:1, 10, 19, 25-26, 36, 38), people of the Way (Acts 9:2) and saints (Acts 9:13, 32, 41).

The word saint means "one who has been set apart for holy use." It is related to the word sanctified, which means "set apart." When we trust Christ as Savior, we are taken out of "the world system" and placed "in Christ." The believer is in the world physically, but not of the world spiritually (John 17:14-16). Like a scuba diver, he exists in an alien environment because he possesses special equipment—in this case, the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. Every true believer possesses the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and it is through the Spirit’s power that the Christian is able to function in the world.

Now for the important question: 

How did these people at Ephesus become saints?  

The answer is found in two words: "faithful" and "grace" (Eph. 1:1-2). When Paul addressed his letter to the "saints" and "faithful in Christ Jesus," he was not addressing two different groups of people. 

The phrase "in Christ Jesus" is used twenty-seven times in this letter! It describes the spiritual position of the believer: he is identified with Christ, he is in Christ, and therefore is able to draw on the wealth of Christ for his own daily living.

Each book in the Bible has its own special theme and message, even though it may deal with many different topics. Genesis is the book of beginnings; Matthew is the book of the kingdom; Galatians is the book of liberty. Ephesians 1:3 states its theme: the Christian’s riches in Christ.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Eph 1:3)

The purpose of our study is to understand our riches in Christ and to determine how we appropriate these riches in our daily living.  Let's break down this verse into smaller parts. 

God has blessed us!

BLESSED means to speak well of, to bless or to thank or invoke a benediction upon someone, or to cause to prosper. We get our word Eulogy from this.

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is carefully structured by divine design. It contains great beauty and wealth! We inherit the wealth by faith and invest the wealth by works and obedience. Without this balance, our spiritual riches do us no good.

Let us be like the Bereans who searched the scriptures to see if what Paul was saying was true. "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11.)