for the Christian; and they have been achieved through the blood of Jesus. All three terms here—blood, redemption and the forgiveness of sins—are loaded with Old Testament meaning but are not fully explained here. Whilst reference is made to the effect of the cross, the mechanism of atonement is not explained. It must be assumed that a) the Ephesian church had sufficient understanding of what Paul meant by these terms and b) that the cross is essential to form the church (Paul does explain the centrality
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