In Ephensians 1, Paul tells the Ephesian church that he never ceases to give thanks for them and lists two reasons why. One reason is their faith in the Lord Jesus. They had made a radical move from paganism to Christianity through a powerful work of God. Faith is how that happened. Scripture says that we are saved by grace through faith. So, faith is the instrumental cause of our salvation. Without it, we are not saved. They had put their faith in Christ, and Paul was so thankful.

The second reason Paul was thankful for them was their love toward all the saints. Biblically, a saint is not some special Christian. It’s all Christians, every person who has been washed in the blood of Jesus and made holy. And the Ephesians showed every saint love. Jesus said that love would be the tell-tale sign of our conversion. He said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So, what Paul was pointing to is the two most important and necessary things that should be present in a Christian’s life:  faith and love. In other words, he was thankful to God that they were Christians.

Are these two things present in your life? Have you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you have love and show to all the saints?

If so, amen! Could it be more? Could it be stronger? And if they are not in your life, today would be the perfect day to turn from sin and place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so that the fruit of love would grow out of your life.

Change begins in you!