First off I want to appologize for not blogging and for waiting until Anthony, Chris, and Ryan were standing outside my door with torches and a nuise (they're actually out there right now lol).
I've been reading and memorizing out of Paul's letter to the saints in Ephesus and God has really showed me the length and depth of his love towards us. I want to discuss today the magnitude and power in the fact that we are regenerated in Christ.
Ephesians 1:1-13
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful [1] in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 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, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us [2] for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known [3] to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee [4] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, [5] to the praise of his glory.
We start out in verse 3 and the following where Paul describes the greatest of our spiritual gifts. I think we can all agree that our salvation truely is a gift from God but I really think i've failed to understand an even deeper rout to this powerful work. We were saved because of God's immeasurable love for his people, however, why does God love us? Why did God choose to have it happen like this and not another way? We see in verse 5 and 6 that this great work was done because of the purpose of his will. Paul affirms here that God has saved us not because he saw anything good in us, but because that pleased His good and perfect will. I have often found myself thinking that one day i'll step into heaven and walk up to God with a balloon and wrapped present and say "Surprise God!!", as if I was attending His big party unannounced. God won't see a single person there because of their awesomeness or righteousness, but only because of that displayed through his son. Which leads us to verse 9. God's purpose was set forth in Christ.
We have obtained our righteousness because of God's plan through his son. We have adoption through Christ (verse 5) and now we see that God's plan for the fullness of time, yes the completion of His plan is set forth through His one and only son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Friends we are saved to fullfill the will of the Creator of the Universe!
We have an inheritance in Christ (verse 11) because of the council of God's will. We have earned nothing, we have done nothing, we have only been blessed beyond measure. What does all this mean? Why is this important and what is its end? We are saved by God's grace through faith because that is His will, but we must know that our inheritance is sealed by the promised Holy Spirit for God's own glory.(verse 14) God is glorified in my salvation! It brings Him joy and glory to give me eternal life. Until we understand why we are saved, how can we possibly make an attempt at praising God for our salvation. We are part of a bigger plan. Our salvation hinges on the fact that this is what God would have come to pass. Not a single soul will slip away, God's will be done. Glory to God that He has saved me to fullfill his will and bring glory to Himself. Soli Deo Gloria!
-Steven
Showing posts with label Steven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steven. Show all posts
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Law
What is the Law? I really think this is something the Romans wondered too when Paul was writing to them. If the Law is good, why are we condemned? Without the Law wouldn't we be free? These are difficult questions that God breathes out through the Apostle Paul. He first starts in Chapter 7 explaining how, because we were living in sin and still alive in that old way, the law was binding, we could not and would not free ourselves. Just as a wife is freed from the law of marriage when her husband dies, so we were free from the condemnation of the Law when Christ died for us.
7:1 Or do you not know, brothers [1]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. [2] 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
So, is the law bad or sinnful? Of Course not! Paul points out starting in verse 7 that we would be blind of our sin had it not been for the Law. He explains that we would have been mindless of sin before the law, and only after the law came were we condemned. In verse 13 he emphasizes the righteousness of the Law and the evilness of sin, thus leading to our condemnation.
So, how is it that we are freed from condemnation. We know from verses 24-25 that the Law which is righteous has become in us the law of sin and death. However in verse one Paul declares what he will later emphasize in 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. " God traded us. He took our sin and became sin, paying the punishment therefore completing the Law. The perfect sacrifice. What was once a Stumbling Block (1 Peter 2:7-8) for us Is now our means of fulfilling the Law (Romans 8:4). The law once condemned us, but in Christ's sacrifice it was finished, setting us free in Him.
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Glory to God that we who were condemned under the Law are now set free!
-Steven
7:1 Or do you not know, brothers [1]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. [2] 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
So, is the law bad or sinnful? Of Course not! Paul points out starting in verse 7 that we would be blind of our sin had it not been for the Law. He explains that we would have been mindless of sin before the law, and only after the law came were we condemned. In verse 13 he emphasizes the righteousness of the Law and the evilness of sin, thus leading to our condemnation.
So, how is it that we are freed from condemnation. We know from verses 24-25 that the Law which is righteous has become in us the law of sin and death. However in verse one Paul declares what he will later emphasize in 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. " God traded us. He took our sin and became sin, paying the punishment therefore completing the Law. The perfect sacrifice. What was once a Stumbling Block (1 Peter 2:7-8) for us Is now our means of fulfilling the Law (Romans 8:4). The law once condemned us, but in Christ's sacrifice it was finished, setting us free in Him.
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Glory to God that we who were condemned under the Law are now set free!
-Steven
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