and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ – you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit,

among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest…

that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

He did this when he revealed to us the secret of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,

who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.

But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into this secret of Christ.

namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth?

and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

But all things being exposed by the light are made evident.

For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: “Awake, O sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!”

Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness,

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.

In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him,