When Paul writes in Ephesians 1:3 that we have been blessed “with every spiritual blessing in Christ,” he distinguishes this blessing from the common mercies of creation that all may enjoy. Indeed, there are blessings of body and circumstance—rain upon the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), food, health, social favor. These can be gained through labor, alliances, or even through worldly power. Josephus describes how Herod sought to secure blessing by building splendid monuments and by currying Rome’s favor. Yet such blessings are fragile, fading, and do not sanctify the heart.
In contrast, the εὐλογίαι πνευματικαί (eulogiai pneumatikai), “spiritual blessings,” come only through union with Christ. These blessings—justification, adoption, redemption, and the seal of the Spirit—cannot be bought or displayed as trophies of self-achievement. They humble us, for they remind us that all we are is gift.
The Danger of Pride in Blessing
Here Paul’s word in Galatians 6:3 is a sharp warning: “If anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” The Greek word δοκεῖ (dokei) means “to imagine, to suppose.” This is the illusion of spiritual pride: imagining oneself important because of external signs of blessing—whether wealth, eloquence, or even ministry success. Yet Paul insists that such boasting is empty. True blessing bends the soul low.
Consider the image you gave, brother, of the stalk of wheat. The full ear, heavy with grain, bows down, while the empty stalk stands tall and stiff. So too in the kingdom of God: those who have received most from Christ are the ones who bow most deeply in humility and gratitude.
The Lesson for Us
This teaches us two things. First, to discern: am I boasting in blessings of the flesh, which breed arrogance, or in blessings of the Spirit, which birth humility? Second, to imitate Christ Himself, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but humbled himself” (Philippians 2:6–7). If the Lord of glory humbled Himself, how much more must we, who receive everything by grace?
So let us say: true blessing in Christ makes the soul bend low, worship, and serve. Any blessing that puffs us up into display or rivalry is not freedom but slavery to the self.
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