Ephesians 1:1-2 ESV
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
As we read through this passage of Scripture today I want us
to pay close attention to the words and phrases used here, for these words are
chosen for a reason. First of all, I want us to see who this is being addressed
to. This is being addressed to the saints who are faithful in Christ Jesus.
Now, the saints are not people chosen by a particular
religious organization for sainthood after they are dead. They are God’s holy
people who have been called out of the world to be followers of Jesus Christ,
to do the will of God. They are (unlike) different from the world because they
are being conformed the likeness of Jesus Christ.
They are also faithful in Christ Jesus. And faithful means
full of faith, reliable, trustworthy, loyal to the faith which God supplies.
For this faith comes from God, and Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our
faith, and we can’t even come to faith in Jesus unless God the Father draws us
to Christ, i.e. unless he persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness and
of our sinfulness and of our need to be delivered out of our slavery to sin so
that we can now walk in obedience to his commands.
And since this faith comes from God and is authored by
Jesus, and is perfected by Jesus, then this faith will submit to God’s will and
purpose for our lives. Thus, by faith, we are crucified with Christ in death to
sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created
to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Thus we, by God’s grace,
forsake our lives of sin to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands.
[Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44;
2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rom
12:1-2; 1 Co 3:17; 1 Co 6:19-20; Eph 1:4; Eph 2:21; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22; Col
3:12; 2 Tim 1:9; 2 Tim 2:21; 1 Pet 1:13-16; 1 Pet 2:5-9; Tit 2:14; Rom 6:1-23;
Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-32]
Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
Now, many people today teach this passage of Scripture
without the context of the first verse which tells us who the “us” is referring
to, and they end up applying this broadly to anyone making a profession of
faith in Jesus Christ. But since so many professions of faith today are not true
conversions to Jesus Christ and to his plan of salvation for our lives, we can’t
just apply this to anyone who says he believes in Jesus. Even the demons
believe, and they shudder, but not one of them is saved and bound for heaven.
This blessing is being given to the saints who are the
faithful in Christ Jesus, to those who have died with Christ to sin and who are
living to God and to his righteousness, who are living separate from the world
and unto God, and who are dying daily to sin and walking in obedience to Jesus
Christ. They are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
for God chose them before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless
before him, but not just as a status, but in practice, in lifestyle, by the
grace of God.
And we are adopted as his children, not according to our
will, but according to his purpose and will and to the praise of his glorious
grace. And his will for us is that we die with him to sin and that we walk in
obedience to his commands. Now there are a lot of people praising what they
believe is God’s grace for they feel that God no longer looks at their sin or
if they do sin their sins are automatically forgiven, or if they admit that
they sinned they believe they are forgiven.
But God’s grace frees us from slavery to sin and it empowers
us to live righteously in obedience to our Lord. And it instructs us to say “No!”
to ungodliness and fleshly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and
godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. The free gift is not freedom
to keep on sinning only now without guilt. The free gift is freedom from
addiction to sin so that we can walk in holiness and righteousness.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom
6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15; Tit
2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; 1 Co 15:58; Php
2:12-13; Col 1:21-23]
Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
Again, apply this to verse one. We are those who are set
apart from the world to God and to his service. We are called out of the world
to be separate (unlike, different) from the world, to be followers of Jesus
Christ, and to do the will of God. Those of us who are faithful to God submit
to his will and purposes for our lives, we forsake our lives of living in sin
and for self, and now we deny self, die daily to sin, and by the grace of God,
and in his strength and power, we walk in obedience to our Lord.
We are the redeemed, those whom Jesus bought back for God
with his blood that we might now honor God with our bodies. We have forgiveness
of sins. Jesus will not count our past sins against us, and we have now been
given a new lease on life in which we are to live free from the control of sin
and in which we are to live in holiness and righteousness in obedience to our
Lord. And if we want to have this continued cleansing of our sins we must now
walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.
And his grace which he lavishes on us is not freedom to now
sin without guilt. The grace he gives us empowers us to now walk in holiness
and righteousness, no longer in slavery to sin, but now as slaves of God and of
his righteousness. And if we want that grace to continue we must not make sin
our practice, but righteousness is to be our practice, and obedience is to be
our practice, and the forsaking of sins is to be our practice.
And please know this. God can indeed still see when we sin
and he will remind us of our sins if we have not truly repented and if we are
living in habitual sin and if we have not truly turned from our sin to follow
him in his ways. He chided his people in the Old Testament and even reminded
them of their ancestors sins and how their sins were even more grievous than
those of their ancestors.
And then read the writings of the apostles to the churches.
At least half of what they write about is how we need to get sin out of our
lives and how we must walk in holiness and righteousness or else we will not
inherit eternal life with God. The New Testament is filled with warnings
against continued and habitual sin, so God obviously can see the sins of
Christians and those who give lip service to him only but who are still living
in bondage to sin, for all these matters are addressed in the New Testament
Scriptures.
So, if you are living in habitual sin and someone points
that out to you, and if this person calls you to repentance and to a genuine
walk of faith in Jesus Christ, he is not being judgmental or self-righteous. He
cares enough about you to tell you the truth. And even if he has forgiven your
past sins but you keep repeating the same sins over and over, proving you have
not truly turned from your sins, then he is not being unforgiving, either, if
he points out to you that your sins are habitual and need to be cast out.
So, believe what God says about your sin. If sin is what you
practice, you will not inherit eternal life with God. But if righteousness is
what you practice, and if obedience is what you practice, by God’s Spirit, then
you do have eternal life with God.
For
Our Nation
An
Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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