Alive In Christ

Transcript

GR 143
07/13/1975
Alive In Christ
Ephesians 2:4-10
Gil Rugh

In the Book of Ephesians, and the second Chapter in our study this morning, Ephesians Chapter 2. we began our study of this Chapter last week by looking at the first three verses, there that the verses presents the condition of man apart from the work of God in his life. And Paul is writing to those who have to place their faith in Jesus Christ. So he writes about them in the past tense, this is what you were, dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of the world, walking in accord with the price of this world. Who is the devil and the spirit that he controls and motivates which in effect is in control of every unbeliever.

And in verse 3 among them too we all formally lived. These are the sons of disobedience. We all formally lived among the sons of disobedience. The disobedience of course is in reference to God and his revelation of himself, his word. We lived in the lust of the flesh and thus we were by nature, the children wrath even as the rest. So there is no one who at one point in his life is not characterized by the first three verses. We observed it is only a question of whether there has been a change in your life, because this was you or it is you in the first three verses. This is God’s statement of what man is apart from what he does in light.

This is man’s true condition. We call it total depravity. Man is totally depraved, totally given over to his sin, totally controlled by his sin. In simply reading the first three verses, if you weren’t here last week, we will make clear that we are talking about a condition that envelops and control the entire person. And you walk according to the course of this world you have your lifestyle conducted in accord with the worlds dictate in accord with its lusts under the control of the devil and that goes hand in hand. And I am walking in the lust of flesh; I am walking in accord with the devil and his control.

These verses are important because they show the great defect in liberalism. Liberal theology goes under the basis that there is some good in man, and we need to stress that good part of man and fan it a little bit, so it will develop. So quoting the first three verses of Ephesians Chapter 2, there is no good in man. Incidentally that is the flow in liberalism period not just theological liberalism, the political liberalism as well goes under the basis that there are some good in man. And all we need to do is encourage that good to blossom and manifest itself.

I don’t preach politics, but your politics are to be in harmony with what the word says, and so I have a real problem with conservative Bible believing Christian being liberal in his politics. Now maybe you are, although don’t get out in a shape and miss what we are going to say about verses 4 to 10. But come and see me afterwards and then you can be right to.

Okay picking up with verse 4, we have an important transition. We sort of left it hanging last week, but really you have to again verses in the verses 4 to 10 to appreciate what Paul is driving at. Because verses 1, 2, and 3 he simply wanted to present their past condition, this is what you were. But you know verse 4 begins, but God being rich in mercy. There has been an intervention. If this ended after verse 3, there was nothing else to be said then every single person would live his life out to a death in accord with the first 3 verses. And upon physical death would move out into eternal separation from God in hell.

There is nothing that man can do to change the condition here. I am totally consumed by my lust and my sin. I am totally dominated by the course of this world and the God of this world. So without outside intervention there is no such thing as salvation for man. And thus in verse 4, God is brought into the focus into the picture and what he has done, and what he has done for the Ephesians in particular going to present his work here in verses 4, 5 and 6.

The work that God has accomplished on our behalf, three things that are mentioned all mentioned in the past tense. He made us alive or quickened us as the King James has it, he raised us, and he seeded us, three things that God has done for every believer and in every believer. But first God is presented to us, God and he described as being rich in mercy, being rich in mercy interesting way to express it. Rich is denoting wealth and in abundance and God is the one who has an abundance of mercy.

His mercy has to be characterized as richness, because he is so over flowing with it. You are rich monetarily when you have a lot of money, while you are rich in mercy when your mercy is over flowing and in abundance. And its God being rich in mercy, you are not going to be able to understand what God has done for us, if you do not grasp that’s done in mercy and it's done in grace.

Done in mercy, he is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us. Now the explanation of he is being rich in mercy is his love with which he loved us. So how can I talk about the mercy of God, well I talk about the love of God and the fact that God has manifested any love to also us is an indication that he is a God of mercy. Now you keep in mind what this says about love. It indicates that God is not obligated to show love to us at all.

There is no such thing at deserving mercy, because if you deserve mercy, you don’t deserve mercy. You are talking about getting paid for something; mercy, are the very word is something that is not deserved. You are showing a kindness to someone who does not deserve it. You are being merciful. You are doing an active kindness to someone when they don’t really deserve it. But if they deserve it all you have done is given them their payment.

So you talk about God being rich in mercy, the manifestation of his mercy is his great love with which he loved us. Again a past tense looking to a point of time in the past, and we know from the rest of scripture and it will developed here. That is Jesus Christ in the presentation of his son, God demonstrated his love for us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

So this is the person we are talking about, the God we are talking about, one who is rich in mercy and great in love. Now this merciful loving God intervened in verse 5 we pick up really where we left off in verse 1. Even when we were dead in transgressions made us alive together with Christ. So verse 5 really carried us back to verse 1, verse 1 said you were dead and your trespasses in sins then going on to develop what it means to be dead and trespasses in sin.

And on verse 5 he picks up the thought again. Even when we were dead and our transgressions made us alive. And that the verb though in the King James Version, you have the verb made alive or quickened put in verse 1. So it will help to read a little more smoothly. So the thought continues here, even when were dead in our transgressions or us being dead, stressing that fact, us being dead, present condition. We were in the condition of being dead, and that was enumerated force in these opening verses.

We know that death here means separation from God. Spiritual death is what we are talking about, obviously not physical death, because those who are dead are said in verse 2 to be walking. We are talking about a state of spiritual death, separation from God. And while we were dead, he made us alive. Now that becomes important it's what God did. God made us alive, because you do not ask a dead person to do anything.

You do not walk ups to a person who has died in the funeral parlor or at the viewing and ask him to do one more thing, why because it's ridiculous, he does nothing. That body now is not operative in the physical realm or by the same token, you do not come to a man who was spiritually dead and ask him to do anything, just do this one thing or these three things and you can life. Well just ask that physical dead person to do two more things and he can have life physically. He say it in impossibility, he can't do anything.

There are occasions where a person for instance has drown and they at least seemingly be dead or perhaps were short period of time medically be dead and is restored alive. But he does nothing. Someone operates on his behalf and that’s what has to happen to a person who is spiritually dead. Someone must operate on him and God did it, he made us alive. So it was his work on our behalf when we were dead.

I trust you see something, the flaw with the religious system that ask you to do something, and if you do this, why God will accept you. That ignores the truth of being dead and trespasses in sins, because if you are dead you cannot do it. If you are not dead you do not need to do it. And we are talking about those who are separated from God in a state of death or separation from God. He made us alive together with Christ, together with Christ we were made alive. So those who were dead are now made alive. We are talking about spiritual life just like we are talking about spiritual death in the context, those who are spiritually dead in a state of separation from God.

God has made them alive. He has brought them into a personal relationship with himself. Very crucial, because this is the very reason that man was created. For a personal relationship with the personal God, and until man is now made alive spiritually the very purpose for his existence is frustrated, which explains the very reason that man has frustrated and unhappy in his life regardless of what he has or does not have.

We were made alive. We were brought into that personal relationship with God. You know we were made alive together with Christ. And here we are tying back to what Paul often develops in his writing, our life with Jesus Christ. Now here he does not tie our dying with Christ, but rather he emphasizes our death in sin. But now when Jesus Christ is made alive, I am made alive with him, having then one who is dead and thus brought into this personal relationship.

Alright, to develop this a little further, verse 6. And we will pick up the statement at the end of verse 5 in a moment because it's repeated in verse 8. It’s almost like Paul cannot wait to say it, by grace you have been saved. And we will pick up what that means when we get to verse 8. But verse 6, and raised us up with him. So he made us alive with Christ. Now he didn’t stop there, he didn’t just make us alive with Christ he raised us with him.

Now what is the emphasis here of the resurrection, well he raised us where and seeded us with him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. So we see something of the exultation that takes place. God does not simply make us alive, but then he elevates us to the highest possible poison in our relationship with him and before him. Because he makes us alive then he raises us where to the heavenly, in order that he might seed us there with his son Jesus Christ.

Now the contrast between the two positions here could not be greater. I am not sure that it's possible for us humanly to appreciate the chasm that exists. That we who were described in the first three verses of this Chapter as dead and trespasses in sins are now pictured as elevated to the highest position being seeded in the heavenlies with Jesus Christ. And this was already mentioned to us back in Chapter 1 and verse 3. Chapter 1 verse 3, where we were told blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.

So the blessings that we enjoy are the blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, this new sphere of existence. Then at the end of Chapter 1 and in verse 20, we will talk about the power that God manifested in his son. And in verse 19 these are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might which he brought about verse 20 in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seeded him at his right hand in the heavenlies. Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, every name that is named, not only in this age but in the one that is coming, put all things under his feet.

Now I go down and read in verse 6, that I have been seated with him in the heavenly. That position is now mine. Now important that you know that being made alive within the arise tense # a point of action of past tense. He raised us, that was the past tense same arise tense and he seeded that is past tense, arise tense. All three things are viewed as accomplished facts for the believer when Paul writes. He does not say he is shall at some future point, seeded with him in the heavenly. He does say, he has seeded me with him in the heavenlies.

And here we are talking about the position that we enjoy in Jesus Christ. Already as I stand here on July the 13th in Indian Hills Community Church I am and my position in Jesus Christ seeded with him in the heavenly. Now the full realization of all the blessings and benefits of this will wait for a future time when I am unveiled his son. But that does not change the position that I have. I am not striving for a greater position. I am not striving for a greater place. I am simply been living in light of the position and place I already have in Christ.

I am seeded with him in the heavenly there is no higher way to go. That is the most exulted place and I am seeded there with him. And I am sure in our present position with our finite limited mind is not possible for us to grasp the splendor and glory that is connected with this, but someday we will and we will be amazed. You will come to me in heaven you will well you should have made a little more clear, I mean you didn’t tell us about this is wonderful, how I did know, but someday I will. And that’s going to go beyond anything that we could imagine.

But the important thing is this is what we are now, and if you realize what you are, where you are, who you are, that will affect your whole lifestyle and you will be living in accord with that exulted position and place. Now something of God’s purpose in doing this, we see what God has done his work. But in verses 7 and 10, something of God’s purpose in doing it and very important that this go together, in order that verse 7, so there is the statement of purpose.

Why has God done this, what has God purpose been in working on our behalf this way, in order that in the ages to come, and I talk take it as he talking about the ages of glory that lie before the unfolding of eternity in the future that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. The surpassing greatness used in verse 19 of Chapter 1 in relationship to his power, the surpassing greatness of his power and word surpassing.

Now in verse 7, we are having a connection with the riches of his grace. The super excelling riches of his grace, although Paul here again begins to pile words upon words. We noted in Chapter 1 that he talked about the power of God; he simply tries to exhaust the vocabulary available to him. And now he talks about the grace of God. again he has to talk about the riches and not just the riches, but the surpassing riches and not just the surpassing riches of grace, but the surpassing riches of grace in kindness or in graciousness toward us in Christ Jesus why, because there is no way to a humanly express all that he has done and accomplished for us.

I mean the grace, the power, the riches, and the kindness that would be manifested to us, and then we would take one that our described in the first 3 verses as hopelessly lost in their sin and elevate them to the highest possible position in the heavenlies that can only be explained on the basis of grace. Now you are aware that grace simply defined is unmerited favor and you have been involved in studies over the last couple of weeks on the subject of grace.

Grace emphasizing that which God does on behalf of man, that which is undeserved or unmerited, it is unearned. Man does nothing from his part when you are talking about grace. And Paul talks about this when he writes to the Romans and he says if you are talking about grace you don’t have works, when you are talking about works then you don’t have grace otherwise grace is no longer grace. And that’s the situation, when you are talking about the grace of God you are talking about his kindness, his favor manifested to us apart from what we earn or deserve.

You read the first 3 verses that tell you what you have earned or merited before God. There is your works presented. Now you want which you earn, why you can have that. But God does not deal with us according to our sins; he dealt with us in mercy and in grace. Now the surpassing riches of his grace that he might show the surpassing riches of grace, I take it that basic what it says is that for all eternity you and I will be trophies of grace for God. That his grace manifested to the fullest degree will be evident just because you and I are there in the heavenlies.

And there go be no doubt upon surpassing riches of his grace because you will be there, I will be there. There is true positive of the overwhelming grace of God that wild, worthless sinners like you and I are going to be seeded in the heavenlies with Jesus Christ. There will be display for all eternity of the matchless grace of God, only grace that goes beyond understands to make possible such an exulted position for sinners like you and I.

So for all eternity what we will be God's trophies of Grace, why has he saved us, the ultimate end what is the purpose of it, God’s glory to manifest the riches of grace for eternity. Now the development or explanation of this in case you haven’t understood Paul wants to be clear and I don’t want any of us to miss the point. We are talking about grace but maybe you don’t understand. So he goes on, which is one of the greatest sections in all the bible as far as conciseness in explaining salvation and it basis in operation.

For by grace you have been saved, that the same expression or same statement as we have at the end of verse 5 in parentheses by grace you have been saved. And as Paul talks about salvation of sinful man this is all that come to his mind, the grace of God by grace you have been saved. And that the verb here the participle, to have been saved is a perfect tense and a perfect tense denotes, a condition or a state of being; the action leading up to a condition or state of being.

Something has happened with the result I am presently in this condition. So you could translate this, for by grace you are in a state of having been saved, I believe it raise summers some of you have study as Greek grammar give that as the translation or Ephesians 28 or by grace you are now in a state of having been saved. And even there is the emphasis on the security of the believer. That’s God’s grace operating or might be have that has brought me to a place that I am now in a settled states of having been saved, experience having experienced God salvation.

Now that means this God’s grace has operated to bring me from the state of the first 9 verses to the state now of being a saved individual. Some of you in this auditorium are in the state of having been saved and some of you are not. Some of you are in the state of having experienced the grace of God; some of you as yet have not. And the issue only is as Paul develops it, the issue of state. So how is this grace of God appropriated, why is not everyone sitting in this auditorium in a state of having been saved, well not everyone has appropriated the grace of God for themselves through faith.

The way the God’s grace becomes operative for you as an individual as you respond by placing your faith in Jesus Christ. Until you do that, you are still in the condition of verses 1, 2 and 3. You have been saved through faith. Now this does not mean that man does something, anymore then when my dad comes and visits and me and gives me some money or a gift I reach out and take it, I go away and say, well I worked for this, and I didn’t. I simply accepted it or received it. And I think that the basic idea of faith to rest upon to trust this is the way that you receive salvation by faith by simply resting upon him. I no longer in trusting myself, I am no longer resting upon myself, my own merits, my own works, my own deeds, I am now resting upon Jesus Christ.

So I have been saved through faith, I am not trusting him and not myself. The reason that not everyone sitting in this auditorium is saved is because not everyone in this auditorium has come to the place where they are willing now to trust Jesus Christ alone. Some of you have endured many Sermons, but you have yet to respond in faith. And the listening or enduring Sermons does not produce salvation, because you are not saved by Sermons. You are not saved by sitting in a set in a certain place. You are not saved by doing anything. You are saved by grace through faith.

And until you are willing to place your faith in Christ the grace of God cannot be operative in your behalf. That seems to me the greatest of tragedy that we should sit in a condition described in verses 1, 2 and 3, day after day, week after week, month after month the greatest tragedy being that someday I will do your funeral and you will have yet not trusted Christ then that it will be settled for you for eternity when the work has been done, so close and so far. God has done it all and yet you are not willing to have it, because the only you can have it is by faith and you say, I don’t need it I am good enough. There is nothing wrong with me.

Well, until you see yourself as God sees you that verses 1, 2 and 3 there is no salvation for you, because the person was not a sinner doesn’t need save, what you need saved from. And if you are still pretty satisfied with your own righteousness in your own condition there is nothing that God himself can do for you, because you said no to his grace, and the manifestation is made of himself. So for by grace have you been saved, you have been saved through faith and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works that no one should boast.

And Paul goes onto explain the details that are almost seems like that he would not have needed to go into this. But we know from where the church engrafted that’s they have miss the point of Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, how many times and you are witnessing you have to go to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, because people think that they are going to be saved by what they do. They tell you where they go to church or whether they have been baptized or whether they have sacraments or whether they have done this or this or this or that or that and you run over to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 because that’s what tells you, you are not saved by works.

And when you says that not of yourself I take it that as you have it in the margin or in the bible that salvation it probably preferable here, sometimes it's taken as connection and that faith is not of yourself, meaning the faith has its origin in God. I take it that as true, because faith and grace are all included. But the word grace and the word faith are feminine and that the word “that” here is neutral, if they refer to grace or faith it would be feminine probably as well. That’s not a binding rule, but it is pretty general grammatical rule.

We would say then that’s “that” here refers to the salvation, which includes the grace and the faith to comprise the salvation. That is not of yourself, it is the gift of God. And here we have the basic of issues of God providing salvation as a gift for man, received by man through faith. Salvation then is the gift of God it's not a result of man’s doing, not as a result of works that no one should boast. In other words, if I did anything for my salvation then I had something to boast about and we are not going to go over Romans because at the time, but you are going to read the end of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, where we taught of Abraham was saved by what he did, he has a reason to boast before God.

So God has done it also then no one could boast. You know why? If you are sitting here this morning and you have been saved from your sins by faith in Christ, you don’t have anything to boast about and neither do I, why, what if done, nothing. So what are you boasting about, there is nothing to boast about. But if I am saved because I am a preacher I have something to boast about. If I am saved because I attend church more often than my neighbor I have something to boast about. If I am saved because I am a better father than someone else I have something to boast about. If I am saved because I give more money than someone else I have something to boast about. But if I am saved because God did something for me, the only thing I can boast about is the God that I served.

And that’s what God says in the Old Testament and Paul picks up and writes into the Corinthians. Let the one who boast to boast in this that he knows me as God wrote through the prophet. No boasting, boasting is excluded, why. God did it all, why do I have to boast it up. At least I can boast it out to the God who did it, right, but that’s all. He gets all the credit and all the glory.

Verse 10, ultimately here we might break this up and verses 8 and 9 talking about our salvation and verse 10th talking about our sanctification, because I think these are often divorced and yet in the context here, sanctification is part of the work of salvation and here we have the place of good works. But we are his workmanship, and you know what the stress on that we are his workmanship. And many ways this has been translated but workmanship gives the idea sometime transliterated we are his palm and that’s pretty. But not as much as translation as a transliteration. His workmanship, his creation. In other words we are his workmanship. As not his workmanship plus ours that went into our salvation. We are his workmanship.

Now if you look at a great painting by Picasso or someone other, some other painter like that is not good enough to say you know Picasso did part of that and Joe Smith did this part and Gill Reed did that part, oh that’s a beautiful picture. Well then it's not Picasso. The Picasso because Picasso did it his workmanship. You know whose workmanship we are, we are his workmanship. He did it all totally, created in Christ Jesus. This is where this transaction took place. This is where this new molding, this new person was created and made. If any man being Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away behold things are become new, Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

So we had been created in Christ Jesus. And you are in Christ Jesus because you have placed your faith in him for salvation. When you did that, God made you a new creation and you became his workmanship. Now note here, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I think the order is important and the complete picture is important that we were created in Christ Jesus for good works.

And you know you were not created in Christ Jesus by good works. This is the major flow in religions today. By your good works you will be saved therefore you were created in Christ by good works. By your good works God saved you. That’s not what it says. It says the God made you his creation and he molded you into his creation as his child now by faith in Christ for the purpose of doing good works.

And you know God prepared beforehand, before ordained are good works. And this is the harmony with James and the rest of the New Testament including Paul’s writings. Faith without works is dead why, because if you have truly believed in Christ along with the new creation, God has also ordained the good works to go with it.

So the question, what about a person who trust Christ, but never does any works that would manifest he as a child of God. Obviously he is not the child of God. James makes that clear, because the ordination of God cannot be frustrated. And God has ordained that those new creations of his will do good works. So there is no such thing as a child of God who does not manifest the character of God or do the works of God.

So works is not a bad word. You just have to put it in the right place. Works follow salvation. I am to do good works, the works of God. He created me for that purpose. You know that we should walk in them. There is a change in my conduct, you know in verse 2; we walked according to the course of this world. Well now, I am to walk according to the course of God in the works that God would have me do. And we know as we develop the rest scripture and this will become clear as we move through Ephesians as well that the work of God are accomplished by the spirit of God in the life of the believer. And really the works of God ultimately don’t come from me they come from him. So I cannot even boast now that I am a Christian, I am doing the works of God and that’s a credit to me, because the works of God are produced in my life by the spirit of God. And it’s called the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5.

So ultimately even in the rewards I get there will be reward that I receive for submitting to the spirit and allowing him to produce the character of God in my life. To do the works of God in my life. But good works are to manifest themselves in the life of a Christian. So you note here works and grace are not in two different worlds. Salvation is by grace which results in works. The problem is when you try to put works and grace together for salvation. Salvation is by grace.

But when you have been saved by grace you have been made a new creation. When you have been made a new creation your lifestyle will change. Some of you have not trusted Christ because you are afraid of that change in lifestyle, but there will be a change in lifestyle. You will be a new person. There will be a change in your interest that’s one way you can tell. You are really a believer sitting here this morning some of you haven’t changed in the last 95 years and that gets most of you in safe ground.

But the idea if there has been no change, God has done no work. He doesn’t do and make any flows. There are no imperfections as he creates us. There are no exceptions while he created him but no good works follow. Before ordain, beforehand that good works will characterize every believer. And if you are really interests, if your desires, if your pattern of life has not changed then I think you would be on safe ground to say perhaps I have not trusted Christ at all.

It does not mean you are yet perfect. There is a maturing process going on, but the change will be there. and it's not just simply saying, yes I believe in Christ and I go to Indian Hills, now leave me alone I want to live my own life that’s not an option, because you are no longer your own you have bought with a price. Therefore you must glorify God in your body. And that’s what we are talking about here.

My walk as it before manifested the world and the devil you will now manifest God and his character. So you know yourself, I know myself, don’t sit here and think well that’s just what so and so needed. They haven’t been doing enough good. That’s not the issue at all, issue is simply these will be the natural result as I submit to the spirit God will produce his character in my life.

So God’s work, he has made me alive. He has raised me up and he has seeded with Jesus Christ. God’s purpose two fold, first that he might display his grace and ultimately that we would have works in this life. So as far as the eternity is concerned we will be trophies of his grace. As far as this life is concerned we are also trophies of his grace, because we are his workmanship and thus manifesting his character, his glory and thus manifesting his grace for the world in which we live.

Let’s pray together. Father we thank you for your salvation. Father of salvation provided totally in yourself or we are thankful for the salvation that we have as a gift or to pray that this area might be very clear to each one of us to realize something of the surpassing richness of your grace and kindness as demonstrated us in Christ Jesus or that we might not lose sight of the fact that we’ve been exulted to the highest places in him or that we might always be the type of person in our lifestyle that would manifest the position that we now occupy in Christ.

father for those who are here this morning who have not yet experienced your grace by placing their faith in Christ, we would pray for them especially not especially for those who come to Indian Hills week after week and month after month and yet your word falls on deaf ears and hard hearts or pray that even now the spirit might soften them. That they might see themselves as proud in resisting you or that they might see something of your love and kindness as demonstrated in Christ, or that they might submit themselves to you by faith in Christ or that they might to be your workmanship created in Christ Jesus before we pray in his name, Amen.