160911 Saved? From What?

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Christian believers use the term “saved” when speaking of their relationship to God. For many people that term just isn’t something they understand. They may not say the words, “Saved? From what?” but they often think them when they are told they need to be saved. We need to know what we were saved from as well as what we are saved to. In today’s message I want to talk about what we are saved from.

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden by taking the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil they begin the process of death. God had told them, “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Note that God did not say they would immediately die just that they would SURELY die. Their physical death was a long way off but their spiritual death occurred that day. Immediately they felt shame at being naked. Shame was something they had never felt before because they were completely innocent. Now, innocence was gone and the seed of sin was planted in the human race by their actions. Repeatedly, throughout the Bible we are reminded that we were “in Adam” when he sinned. They may have been alive, physically, but they were surely…

Dead in sins. Look with me at Paul’s words in Romans 5:12. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned

Ephesians 2:1 describes the believers in Ephesus as having been dead in the trespasses and sins in which they once walked.

Being in bondage to sin they, and we, began life unable to function spiritually because all mankind are spiritually dead. Our lifestyle before we came to know Christ was one of…

Following the world culture. Look with me at Paul’s words to the Galatians Galatians 4:8-11. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. ⁹ But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? ¹⁰ You observe days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹ I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

When Jesus began his ministry immediately after baptism he went into the wilderness in fellowship with the Holy Spirit to fast and pray. The Scriptures tell us that he was led there to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1). He was challenged three times. The first challenge was to satisfy his hunger by turning stones into bread. To which Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The second challenge that Jesus faced was to prove that the angels would take care of him by jumping off the high point in the temple. To which Jesus replied, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” The third challenge was to worship the devil in exchange for being given all the kingdoms of the world. To which Jesus replied, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (Matthew 4:3-11)

All of these temptations related to the world around us. The world culture would want us to be fed rather than to be fasting. The world culture seeks demonstrations of the power of God rather than simple faith. The world culture would bow down to Satan in order to enjoy the things of this world. Jesus came to stand against all those things and set mankind free from bondage to the world. When we are “saved” we are delivered from worldly bondage.

All of those who are not yet believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are…

Subject to Satan. Let’s look at the words of Jesus that were given to the apostle Paul when he was still Saul of Tarsus. This is part of Paul’s testimony in court. Let’s read the words of Jesus in Acts 26:16-18. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷ delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you ¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Paul was called by Christ with a specific purpose in mind. He was appointed a servant and a witness. He had seen the living Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus while he was on the way to deliver Christians over to be imprisoned, beaten and even killed for their faith. Saul was a proud Pharisee who would not associate with non-Jewish people. As Paul the apostle he lost all that prejudice. He was “saved” from those attitudes by Jesus. Paul’s role, and ours, is to, open the spiritual eyes of the unbelievers allowing them to turn away from darkness and towards the light; to turn away from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are made holy by faith in Christ. Those who are saved are delivered from spiritual death and from bondage to the world culture.

“Saved” means no longer subject to control by Satan. One of the problems is the way Satan works to keep them “lost” in trespasses and sin. It seems to me that Satan really enjoys deceiving people as he did in the Garden of Eden. He also enjoys bringing people into total bondage so that they become immoral. Most of the people that Satan deals with are kept in bondage to him by being “good” in the eyes of the world around them. People are often kept from salvation simply by believing that they do not need it. They are good enough — they think! They are not all…

In bondage to passion but many are. Look with me at Paul’s writing to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

We live in a sex saturated world. As time goes by the worldwide culture sinks deeper and deeper into bondage to passion and lust. The United States of America were founded upon the Christian principles found in the Bible. In the last half-century most of those Christian principles have been put aside and, in fact, denied the opportunity to contend in the world of ideas. At the same time more and more freedom of action has been given to the passions of the flesh and the desires of the body. So one of the things that people are “saved” from is a debilitating life of passion. Don’t get me wrong — the Bible says there is pleasure in sin for a season! (Hebrews 11:25)  Remember, seasons always end!

Those who are still unbelievers need to be delivered from being…

Mentally bound. Let’s look to Romans 8:5-8. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Setting the mind is an interesting concept. There are not multiple choices as to what the mind is set on. The mind of every person is set on one of two things. There is no middle ground and there is no alternative field of battle. Either the mind is set on the flesh and that produces death or the mind is set on the Spirit and that produces life! So one of the things that Jesus came to do was to “save” mankind from a mind set on the flesh. Because the mind that is set on the flesh is

Subject to wrath. This is a difficult concept for a lot of people. After all do we not serve a God of love? Let’s look at John 3:36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

In this passage believing in the Son is linked to obeying the Son. And for those who do not obey the Son are subject to the wrath of God. One Christian denomination refuses to use the popular hymn “In Christ Alone” in their hymnal because in the second verse is the phrase, “as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.” I am not quite sure how these people use their Bibles since the word “wrath” is very frequently used to describe God’s attitude towards sinful man. When Israel was in the wilderness and they rebelled against God by erecting a golden calf to worship, God said to Moses, “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them…” (Exodus 32:10). There are multiple other examples in the Old Testament. Wrath is also common in the New Testament. For example, in Romans 1:18 Paul says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men” along with all these statements about God’s wrath we are also told, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:8-9). So when a person is “saved” one thing they are saved from is being subject to the wrath of God.

However, a person who believes can be free. Praise God there is freedom in Christ. People may think they are too bad to be delivered by Jesus. Let’s look at what Paul had to say in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Look at that list! The sexually immoral describes so many in our day. Idolaters represent everyone who puts anything before God in their life. Adulterers, are those who scorned their marriage vows. And the list goes on to include those who practice homosexuality, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers and swindlers.

The beautiful part of this passage is found in verse 11. “And such were some of you.” The Christians in Corinth had once been all of these things that are so outside the will of God that they invite the wrath of God to come upon them. Those who were once such obvious and open sinners are now washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Praise the Lord!

Thank God that He is rich in mercy having loved us with a great love. He loved us so much that He gave His only Son to pay the penalty for our sin. If a person is saved they are saved from a long list of horribly unpleasant conditions. Addictions of all kinds are part of the lifestyle that is separated from God. Have you given your life over to the Lord Jesus? Do you believe in Him? Will you allow Him to control your life? Today can be the day of salvation. We have seen part of what we are saved from, God willing, next week will see what we are saved to.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

160904 Paul’s Prayer for the Ephesians (2)

Ephesians 1:15-23 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, ¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸ having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Paul did not cease to give thanks for the Ephesian church and the saints located there. He asked the Father of glory to give them a Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Christ. Paul further spoke of the hope that God has called believers to. Today, we go on with the prayer that Paul offered for those so long ago that remains so fresh and real to us today.

When we are reminded of the hope that God has called us to in Christ we must remember that we were not born that way. In fact when we were born we inherited, not just the tendency toward sin and separation from God but we inherited sin itself. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 5 that sin came into the world through one man and death through sin. Paul is not talking about the sins that people commit every day of their lives but he is showing that all of us have the same guilt as Adam. All of us inherited death. There was no law to disobey in the years between Adam and Moses. Even so, all mankind died because of the inherited death of Adam.

In contrast believers have inherited…

The riches of Jesus’ inheritance. Look with me to Romans 8:15-17. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Having come to faith in Christ — believing in Him — we now inherit the Spirit of adoption as sons. We did not inherit a spirit of fear. When a person believes in the Lord Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit comes into that person (1 Corinthians 12:13). He (Holy Spirit) does an initial work of cleansing in our lives. The Holy Spirit purifies us and gives us the ability to grow in grace. As sons we are able to be familiar with God the Father. Now that we have placed our trust in Jesus we are included in Jesus’ inheritance. He inherits us and we inherit Him! That is far too unbalanced for me. Yet it has been the program of God since the beginning of time — and before!

The Spirit of adoption that comes into our life releases the fruit of the Spirit within us! The fruit of the Spirit include a set of qualities that reflect the character of God. Those qualities include, but may not be limited to, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). As God reflects Himself in our lives as our Father we are constantly being shaped like Jesus.  In point of fact John tells us. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

We are told that a sculptor was once asked how he knew what to cut away in the large block of stone before him in order to produce a horse. His reply was short and simple, “I look at the stone carefully and then I chip away everything that doesn’t look like a horse.”

That is an apt illustration of what God is doing in our lives. All of the bumps and scrapes we experience in life serve God’s plan to shape us like His Son. He uses all the events of our life to cut away everything that doesn’t look like Jesus.

God does the work of shaping us into the image of Christ, not by our strength, but instead by…

The greatness of Jesus’ power. Look with me at 2 Corinthians 4:7. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

We need to remember that God is not looking for special abilities, silver or gold when He looks at us. For that we can thank God because we are not much to look at nor are we capable of living out the godly life in our own strength. We are not great marble vases we are instead clay pots. If we had ability within ourselves to live the life that God has planned for us Jesus would not have needed to go to the cross. If our abilities would cover our need God would just look to us to do our best in service to Him.

As we grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord our bodies become more useful to God and more responsive to His will and the desire of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, physical weaknesses will inevitably come with old age, and sometimes earlier due to infirmity, but this can be consistent with increased sanctification as God’s power is “made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul clearly teaches this when he tells us that we have this treasure in clay pots and, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). We must look to…

The measure of God’s power. Look with me to Romans 11:36. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

God the Father is the only being in the universe that exists by virtue of his very nature. He was never created and he never came into being. He always was. We can see from this passage of Scripture that everything came from Him.

Psalm 90:2, tells us that God existed before there was any creation! “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” God’s existence and His character are determined by Him alone. If God had not created everything that we see He would still be infinitely loving, infinitely just, eternal, all knowing, etc. etc.

The power of…

God the Father raised Christ from the dead. Look with me to Romans 6:4.  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

When a person is baptized they are illustrating the fact that they have died to their old way of living with Christ on the cross and have been raised with Him by the same power that raised Christ from the grave to glorify the Father.

That power, released in us, enables us to walk (live) in a new way. There’s a chorus we used to sing from time to time. It goes like this

I have a new way of living; I have a new life divine;

I have the fruit of the Spirit and I’m abiding, abiding in the vine.

Not only did God the Father raise Christ from the dead therefore demonstrating his power over life…

He seated Him at His right hand. Let’s look to Acts 7:55-56 and see the conclusion of Stephen’s experience as he was about to be executed for his faith. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

The very first evidence of Jesus being seated at the right hand of the Father was the vision that Stephen saw. He had just given a complete spiritual history of Israel beginning with Abraham and coming forward to Christ. Then he saw Jesus standing in heaven.

Why was Jesus standing when other references have him seated? Jesus was standing to welcome His faithful servant who was about to be murdered for his faith. In the same way that one of us might stand to greet a friend coming to the door. Jesus stood to welcome His good and faithful servant. When John saw Jesus, as described in the book of Revelation, He was so glorious that John fell at his feet in awe.

We need to remember that Jesus did not temporarily become man! Instead, Jesus permanently united His human nature to His divine nature. Paul reminded Timothy that “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5). He did that for our sake! Jesus, in order to bring the grace of God to mankind left heaven’s glory for Earth’s gloom permanently! He stepped down in order to complete the plan that had been set into motion before time began. As a result of His reduction in rank the Father raised Him…

Above every power and dominion. Look with me to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

When the power of death was broken Jesus reflected the power of God by being raised from the dead. He could not be held by death. As a consequence Jesus gives all believers the authority to rebuke all spiritual forces that stand against God. There is no spiritual force that can stand against His people!

James tells us that we are to “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) Peter adds to it “Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him firm in your faith,” (1 Peter 5:8-9). We must live our lives every day recognizing that we have victory in Jesus! When God raised Jesus up above every power and dominion…

God gave Him to the church as Head. Look with me to Colossians 2:9-10. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰ and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

The primary message of the book of Ephesians is confirmed in most of the other letters written by the apostle Paul. Jesus is Head of the church! In Him God’s own nature is present to bless and manifest his character completely.

His Headship over the church provides us with all the resources we need to serve Him. We will see later in Ephesians that “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she may be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

As Head of the church Jesus enables the church to do its work on earth by His power. It is from the head that our bodies receive direction, protection and emotional stability. You see…

The church is Christ’s fullness. Look with me to Ephesians 3:20-21. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Christ is able to do more than we can imagine or ask for! He does this by the power that works in us from the Holy Spirit. The church is the Body of Christ. We are His hands, His feet, and His voice in the world. Jesus is the fullness of the Father and we are the fullness of Christ in the world today.

Jesus is coming again for His church. The church is very important to Christ. He gave his life for her and, I believe, He desires that we give our lives for the church. In the next few weeks we will be blessed by the book of Ephesians and this church will be made stronger.

“The church”, in the book of Ephesians, refers to all true believers of all time. God’s plan, made long before the beginning of time, includes Christ seated at the right hand of Power in heaven. “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Jesus Christ Himself builds the church by calling His people. Jesus had promised that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not be able to stand against it. (Matthew 16:18). On the day of Pentecost Luke recorded for us that “the Lord added to their number day by day those who are being saved” (Acts 2:47). This is Jesus’ work in the world today. Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you been obedient to Him? Today is the first day of the rest of your life, make it count!

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.