Welcome to Studies with Stearman.

Join us as we look deeper into the Bible.

Strengthen your faith with us, even as we see the day approaching.

And now, here's Gary.

And we finished the first sentence last week, verses one and two, which are the salutation,

and that would be one sentence.

The second sentence in the epistle runs from verse 3 to 14.

Well, we didn't finish that sentence, and I don't think that sentence will ever be finished,

if you want to come right down to it, because it's talking about election and predestination and all kinds of great and wonderful topics that have been the source of much debate.

But I wanted to, as nearly as possible, not clarify difficult terms, like choosing or election

or foreordination or predestination.

I don't want to clarify those terms because God knows we can't clarify them.

We don't have big enough minds to wrap around those.

But what we can do is understand our relationship with God in terms of those very difficult concepts.

Starting with the second sentence in verse three,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,

according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should

be holy and without blame before Him in love.

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the

good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, where He hath made us

accepted in the beloved,

...