Ephesians
Remember God’s Grace
In Ephesians 2:1-10 we find three helpful things to remember as Christians: our prior state, our salvation by God’s grace, and the good works God has recreated us to walk in. Apart from faith in Christ all mankind finds themselves in a grotesque state. Because of sin they are hopeless and helpless. This is the state we as Christian’s all once found ourselves in. This should cause us to walk in humility because there is only one reason we no longer find ourselves in that state. And that is God’s grace. While we were dead in our trespasses and sins God made us alive together with Christ. He saved us from our prior state along with the wrath we deserved and gave us new life through faith in Christ. This is a gift and should cause us to praise God as we remember His kindness towards us. We should also remember that He has re-created us to walk in the newness of life that He has planned for us. We do this not out of a desire to earn salvation, but because we already have salvation through faith in Christ.
Do You Know What You Have?
As we continue to study the Book of Ephesians, Paul reports on his prayers for the church at Ephesus. He desires that the recipients of his letter would have a precise and personal (“epignosis”) understanding of God Himself. Paul also records several truths that he wants his readers to KNOW. We should always be reminded of what we have in Christ Jesus.
Spiritual Blessings: Inheritance in Christ
In Christ we have become God’s special possession. We exist for Him and His glory. We have become this because God in His sovereignty has predestined us to this end. As a result of knowing the God who controls all things and what He has done for us through the Cross we can trust Him. The more we know of His character and love for us the more we will enjoy him. The more we enjoy Him the more His name will be praised. This is the chief end of man, and this is why he has made us His. To enjoy Him and glorify Him. As a result of being God’s special possession, we have an inheritance to look forward to. He has given us His Spirit as a guarantee of this. Yet, we will ultimately obtain this when He completes his redemption of us and we inherit heaven. There we will fully enjoy God for all of eternity.
Spiritual Blessings: Redemption in Christ
God’s eternal purpose has always been to accomplish redemption. Before the foundation of the world, God the Father planned this. And at the cross, Christ accomplished it. Those who are united to Christ by faith presently have this redemption. This consists of freedom from the guilt of sin and freedom from sin’s mastery. We once were enslaved to sin but have been redeemed through Christ’s blood. This was previously a mystery. But at the cross, it has been revealed. What happened there was the focal point of all history where God sums up all things in Christ. Christians are to praise their Triune God for accomplishing this redemption and walk in light of it.