My brothers/sisters we had a great start yesterday. A study of one of the greatest epistles in the New Testament, Ephesians.
God will impart to us the understanding of our study as we open our hearts to our blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
It is the precious Holy Spirit that will help us to understand God’s holy Word. For He is the revealer of secrets, the secrets of God.
(I Corinthians 2:9-10) “But as it’s written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
So, with that in mind we ask, “God reveal your precious truths to us during our study time.
There is no distance in prayer, Lord. So, bind our thirsty hearts together for a deeper, more relevant understanding as we live out your precious Word.
We learned yesterday that God has favored His children ‘WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST’.
That’s shouting ground. That truth should cause every child of God to love Him more than ever, especially if they have experienced these wonderful blessings, especially starting with Salvation through Christ.
READ: GOD WANTS YOU IN HIS FAMILY
(1:4) “According as he has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love”.
How wonderful to be chosen. We have been chosen in Jesus Christ. Chosen in Him means, we only have life in Him. Apart from Him we have existence, but not life, not real life.
Without Christ we have existence and consciousness, but not real life. We may be breathing but not living.
The Bible says we are dead, “DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SIN” (Ephesians 2:1)
Life without Christ may have some thrills and worldly pleasures, but it is filled with guilt and shame. That life is filled with misery, depression and sadness.
That existence is full of fear, anger, wrath and bitterness. And that all brings about hatred of “God, others, and even one’s self.
READ: MY FAITH MIXED WITH THE SOLID WORD OF GOD.
As believers we live, move, and breathe in this new atmosphere. Its the very atmosphere of blessing, life, and His presence. In Christ we are new creations, old things are passed away, and all things are become new (2 Cor. 5:17).
What we believe must be more than just a doctrine, or a teaching stuffed in our heads. What we believe must be lived out by faith in actual experience, in real life, in real time. The truth of what we believe must be a living faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer.
READ: OH, SLEEPING SAINT, AWAKE OUT OF SLUMBER.
(Eph 2:8) “For by ‘Grace’ are you saved through ‘Faith’, and that not of yourselves. It is ‘THE GIFT OF GOD’, not of works, lest any man should boast”.
No man can take credit for this great salvation. It is God’s marvelous ‘Grace’ that saved us. But that saving grace is activated only one way and that is by faith.
Have you experienced this marvelous salvation yet?
Don’t let this day pass without accepting Jesus Christ into your heart and life. Repent. Turn from your sins, and ask God for mercy and ask Him to come into your heart, and when you do, He will. He really will.
READ: GOD WANTS YOU IN HIS FAMILY.
We were chosen before the foundation of the world. God knows all things from all eternity past, present, and future. Can we even grasp that?
He acted before time itself and chose us. He chose us before He even laid the foundation of the earth. Did you know the earth had a foundation?
All our knowledge tells us that before a foundation is laid, it has to be laid upon solid ground, ‘Terra Firma’.
Think about that. God hung the world in ‘empty space’. He laid a firm foundation to the earth. It has been well constructed.
God with all the work and responsibility of creating the universe of universes and the earth, was still more than able to see, to know, and to choose us in His Son, Jesus Christ.
HE KNEW YOU WAY BACK THEN. HE KNEW ME. THERE’S NOTHING THAT HE DOESN’T KNOW FROM ETERNITY PAST TO ETERNITY FUTURE.
(Job 26:7) “God stretches out the North over empty space, and hung the earth on ‘NOTHING’ (empty space).
(1:5) “Having ‘PREDESTINATED’ us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will”.
There is too much controversy over the subject of ‘predestination’. IF WE ARE TRUE CHRISTIANS, WE MUST NOT ARGUE OVER THIS DOCTRINE.
If you believe one way and I believe the other, we must love each other, and even pray for each other. We need to walk softly and humbly before our God.
We only know in part. So, let’s remember that. There are things about predestination that I don’t know, and there are things about predestination that you don’t know.
Let us humbly study the subject from God’s Word and let Scripture interpret Scripture. WE MUST BE CAREFUL THAT WE DON’T TRY TO SQUEEZE THE SCRIPTURES INTO THE MOLD OF OUR OWN PREJUDICES AND DESIRED RESULTS.
(1:4) “According as he has chosen us ‘IN HIM’….. THAT WE SHOULD BE HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME BEFORE HIM IN LOVE…”
Predestination literally means “TO MARK OFF OR CHOOSE BEFORE”. God chooses those He knows will participate in His plan of salvation and extends it to all who respond in faith.
Going along with this article read, FAITH CHANGES EVERYTHING
God says that He is no respecter of persons. That means He plays no favorites. Acts 10:34 Peter said, “I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But accepts from every nation those who ‘FEAR HIM’ and does what is right (works righteousness) , IS ACCEPTED BY HIM”.
God’s predestination is predicated upon something the Scripture calls ‘THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD’.
It is because of God’s foreknowledge (His knowing everything, and everything about us) that He predestinated us. In other words, he knew we would repent.
He knew we would love and obey Him. He knew we would be holy and blameless before Him. HE KNEW THIS BEFORE THE FOUNDATON OF THE EARTH THEREFORE HE CHOSE US.
God does not just arbitrarily choose us, but he chose us, because we ‘CHOSE HIM, AND CHOSE TO BE HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME BEFORE HIM.
Now, it’s true, we cannot be these things without trusting God and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but God knows that is the life we have chosen, and because He knows that, He sanctifies us and then enables us to live the life that He knows we will some day choose.
The election of God is primarily ‘corporate’, the election of a ‘PEOPLE’. The elected are called ‘THE BODY OF CHRIST’ (4:12).
God’s special people (I Peter 2:9), and the “bride” of Christ (Rev 21:9).
(I Peter 2:9) “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Which in timepastwere not a people, but are now the people of God
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy”.
READ: MERCY, WHERE DO I FIND IT?
Too often we think that anyone who believes differently than we do are not the chosen. Because of what we believer we absolutely think we are the chosen.
We will come closer to finding out who is the chosen by those who wanted Christ and accepted Him. They wanted Christ more than they wanted to live their own selfish life.
They wanted to go to heaven, more than they wanted to miss hell. They wanted to please God more than themselves.
They are moved by the deep hurts and needs of others, and genuinely step forward to help these individuals. They want to be holy more than they want to be unholy.
If they sin, they are deeply sorry and quickly repent. They seek ways they can please God, not because they’re trying to gain acceptance through their works, but because of their love for Him. They want only to find ways to please Him.
They know they are saved by grace through faith, and they want all to know Christ and be saved. They desire to pray and intercede for the lost, and those who are bound.
They are loyal. They are a faithful people. They are faithful to God. Faithful to pray, Faithful to witness, Faithful to get into the Word, and get the Word into them.
They seek God until they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. They yield to God in all circumstances of life and allow the fruit of the Spirit to be developed in their lives.
They allow the gifts of the Spirit to flow through their lives, yet they remain humble, and contrite before the Lord.
They love to praise God, and worship God in Spirit and in truth. They fear God. They know that without the fear of the Lord which is a fountain of life, they cannot depart from the snares of death.
They realize that those who have no fear of God before their eyes, become, haughty and proud. They become brazen.
WHY?
Because they believe they can never lose their salvation and as a result live carelessly lavishly, and disobediently.
Those who believe once saved always saved, and that they can’t be lost, are in danger of not believing it is necessary to live according to the Word of God, and so start living carelessly and sinfully fulfilling the desires of the flesh in total selfishness.
Read what the Word says about those who live after the flesh.
(Gal. 5:19-21) “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, sexual excess, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, wrath, strife, seditions, divisions, drunkenness, murderers, orgies, and such like, of the which I tell you ‘SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD“.
IT IS TRUE WE ARE NOT SAVED BY OUR WORKS, BUT IT IS TRUE THAT WE CAN BE LOST IF WE DO NOT OBEY GOD’S WORD.
Because we are under grace does not mean that we can be bitter and unforgiving. Living under grace does not mean that we can commit adultery with our neighbor’s wife or husband, does it? Of course not.
Let us walk softly before the Lord. When we do we will have a clear conscience, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. God bless you.
UNTIL NEXT TIME, SEE YOU TOMORROW.
