That's Not What The Text Says

The Bible Study booklet we were using had a yes/no question about Ephesians chapter 4:

There are no spiritual blessings outside of Christ.

Most of the people in the study answered the question with a "no", basing their answer on Ephesians 1:3:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

I did a quick google and found this same thinking elsewhere. One writer says, "Note carefully please. There are no spiritual blessings outside of Christ."

Another is careful to distinguish between spiritual blessings and physical blessings, admitting that physical blessings can be found outside of Christ but that "This verse teaches that 'all spiritual blessings' are 'in Christ'", concluding that "All of God's spiritual blessings are in Christ; none of them are outside of Christ. Unless you are 'in Christ,' none of these spiritual blessings are available to you."

Regardless of whether the doctrine is correct or not, all of these groups are adding to the actual text; the text does not say what they claim it says.

The text says that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ; it does not say that there are no spiritual blessings outside of Christ. That may be true, but that's not what the text says.

It's like picking up a bottle of vitamins off the shelf and telling your friend, "All the nutrients your body needs are in this vitamin." That does not mean that the other vitamins on the shelf contain none of the nutrients your body needs.

It's like saying, "This song contains all the notes of the G-Major scale". That's not the same as saying that some G-Major notes are not found in other songs.

Please don't mishear me: I'm not saying that there are spiritual blessings outside of Christ (or the converse). I'm saying that we need to not go beyond the text, and the text of Ephesians 1:3 simply says that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ; it does not say there are no spiritual blessings outside of Christ, so we should not use this text as a proof-text of that doctrine.