however, occur five times in this letter and always elsewhere in a local sense (see Ephesians 1:20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12), which therefore should be preferred here. The meaning is that these blessings pertain to that heavenly state into which the believer is introduced. Here on earth he is, as the apostle says in Ephesians 2:6, “in the heavenly realms.” He is a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20). The word “heaven” in Scripture is not confined to the place or state of future blessedness, but is sometimes