← Back to sermon library
Well, you can turn in your Bibles
to Ephesians chapter two for our meditation before the supper.
Ephesians chapter two. Last time we had the supper,
we looked at verses 11 to 22 under the title, The Inclusion
of Gentiles in God's Covenant. Thought it would be good to look
at the previous section, verses one to 10 under the title, The
Inclusion of Wretches in God's Covenant. So I want to read beginning
in chapter two at verse one. and you he made alive, who were
dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the
others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of his great love with which he loved us, even when
we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ,
by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together and
made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace
you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It
is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father,
we thank You for the written Word, and thank You for the glorious
content of the written Word, the reality that God is in Christ,
reconciling the world unto Himself. What a blessed book this is,
as it details that plan, as it demonstrates it, as it shows
us, and as it reveals that blessed Christ to us. We ask now the
Holy Spirit would guide us and direct us as we consider this
passage of scripture. May it encourage our hearts and
may it strengthen and fortify us. And may we stand in awe at
the amazing grace of our great and glorious God. And we pray
this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, as I said, I wanted to
focus on verses 1 to 10 to look at the specific salvation of
individual sinners. Remember that in chapter 1, verse
19, Paul wants the Ephesians to know God's power. And then
he gives three concrete evidences or demonstrations of God's power. God's power is demonstrated in
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see that at the end of chapter
1. God's power is demonstrated in the salvation of individual
sinners. You see that in chapter 2, verses
1 to 10. And then you see that power displayed
in the inclusion of Gentiles in God's covenant. And you see
that in chapter 2, verses 11 to 22. So again, we're going
to go back to that section previous to the one we looked at last
time. And I want to look at three things. First, the origin of
salvation. Secondly, the objects of salvation. And then thirdly, the execution
of salvation. But as we consider or contemplate
the origin of salvation, it's important for us to consider
the link between chapters 1 and 2. In other words, we don't just
fall into chapter 2. We come to chapter 2 having been
very well instructed concerning God's plan to save His people
from their sins. We might look in terms of covenantal
categories to see in chapter 1, verses 3 to 14, what we call
the covenant of redemption. And then when we look at chapter
2, verses 1 to 10, that's the covenant of grace. Essentially,
the covenant of redemption is that transaction between the
persons of the Trinity. It is between the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit concerning the salvation of His elect by
Jesus Christ. And Paul unfolds that in glorious
detail in verses 3 to 14. And then we see the application
of that in history in what's called the covenant of grace,
when God takes that plan of salvation or or rather what Christ has
wrought out on the cross, and it's applied to individual sinners.
So let's look first at this origin of salvation in chapter 1. Notice that Paul indicates there's
a comprehensive plan of God and he sets forth specific theological
categories. Notice that he praises the Father
in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he gives us the reason
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ. So he wants to bless God. He
wants to speak well of God. He wants to honor and glorify
God. And the reason for this is because
God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ. And now he goes to the individual
components with reference to that salvation. the work of the
Father, the work of the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
You see, when we come to the supper, when we eat this bread
and we drink this cup, this is not an afterthought in the mind
of God. This is a comprehensive plan
set in motion before the foundation of the world. We're not here
tonight because we're wise. We're not here tonight because
we're good. We're not here tonight because we made right decisions.
We're here because of what Paul sets forth in Ephesians 1 verses
3 to 14. The Father chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. That ought to just humble
each and every one of us who confesses faith in Jesus Christ. When we get to chapter 2, and
this salvation by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves,
there's a big debate. Does that mean the faith is not
of yourselves? Does that mean that it's something
that we bring to the table? If you understand chapter 1,
there's no way you can approach the covenant of grace and think
for a moment that man has a contribution to make with reference to his
salvation. Luther was right. The only thing
we contribute to our salvation is the sin we need saved from. It is not the case that we offer
to God any good thing. The Father chose us, the Father
predestined us. In fact, if you look there at
verse 4, it says, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. Notice he doesn't choose us because
we were holy and without blame. He chooses us unto holiness and
blamelessness. He doesn't look down the tunnel
of time and say, oh, that group that's going to occupy those
pews on Sunday night, March 3rd in Chilliwack, they're going
to do some good things, so I'm going to purpose them in my plan.
No. It's because God saved us. It's because God chose us. It's
because Christ bled for us. That's the basis upon which we
now go out and live in a way that is without blame, or in
a way that is full of good works. We're not saved as a consequence
of that, but rather those are consequences of the salvation. And then notice at the end of
verse 4, there's some question as to where this in love ought
to go. Is it without blame before Him
in love, or does in love go with verse 5? I think in love goes
with verse 5. It says, in love, having predestined
us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself. The enemies
or the opponents of sovereign grace try to paint God as some
sort of a monster. They try to paint Him as some
sort of a deity that just pulls the strings behind the scenes,
and that it's just the way that it is. It's in love that He predestined
us. It's in love that He calls us.
It's according to the riches of His mercy that He brings us
forth. We ought never to forget who
God is. He's the one that orchestrated
this plan of salvation. And so Paul rehearses the father,
and then he speaks concerning the son, and you see that specifically
in verse 7. Well, in verses 6 and 7, to the
praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted
in the beloved. In him we have redemption through
his blood. the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. So you see the work of the Father
is election and predestination. The work of the Son is specifically
redemption and union. We have union with Christ, this
phrase in Christ that highlights that we're in union with Him.
And then dropping down to verses 13 and 14, we see the work of
the Holy Spirit. In Him you also, after you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Him also
having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession to the praise of His glory. So you see, this doctrine
of the Trinity, it's all over the Bible, and here Paul assumes
it, and Paul works in terms of it, and Paul highlights the various
aspects of the persons involved with reference to our salvation.
The Father chose. The Son redeems, the Spirit applies,
and that's the origin of our salvation. Again, we don't come
to the supper tonight as a reward for our good works. We come to
the supper tonight because God chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world. and that in time and space and
in history, he showed us our sin, he showed us our wretchedness,
and he showed us the majesty and the glory of Jesus Christ.
And he gave us the graces of faith and repentance so that
we may close with Christ. That's why we're here tonight.
It's by God's grace. Now let's look at the objects
of salvation. And Paul highlights that in chapter
two, verses one to three. And notice, the Apostle Paul
highlights in the first place that you were dead in trespasses
and sins. Again, only Reformed theology
answers the big questions. You cannot move from deadness
in sin to life in Christ by virtue of the creature. We cannot resurrect
ourselves. We cannot make ourselves alive.
We cannot make ourselves anew. It must be God who raises us
from the dead. And that's a very important point
for all of us to understand. Sinners aren't crippled. Sinners
aren't lamed. Sinners aren't a little maimed,
but rather sinners are dead. If you have a sinner that you
love and you want to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, you
better be praying to God Almighty, because the only way that dead
sinner is ever going to enter into eternal life is by the power,
that resurrection power that Paul will go on to declare in
verses 4 to 7 in this chapter. We need the grace of God to move
from a state of deadness to life. That ought to be obvious, it
ought to be evident, and again, it ought to put to rest any notion
whatsoever that man contributes to his salvation. There's nothing
a dead man can contribute to his salvation, again, except
the deadness from whence he needs to be raised. That's Paul's point. Notice what he goes on to say.
We walked according to the course of this world, governed by the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the
sons of disobedience. In other words, as dead men and
women, as dead boys and girls, our orientation was demonic.
Our orientation was to this world. Our orientation was contrary
to God Most High. There's that vice list in Romans
chapter 1 that the Apostle highlights. It talks about Gentiles, apart
from the grace of God, and what they look like. And one of the
things that Paul describes them as, as being those who did not
like to retain the knowledge of God in their minds. Well,
who do you think you are to actually try and exclude God from your
mind and your heart? But that's how we were. We didn't
like to retain the knowledge of God. We suppressed the truth
in unrighteousness. During the days of the prophet
Jeremiah, the Lord upbraids the people because they turned to
him the back and not the face. What does that mean? It means
they did not like to retain the knowledge of God. They turned
their back on him. Have any of you parents ever
had that experience? You're having a heart-to-heart
with your child, and it's actually not a heart-to-heart. You're
yelling at them. And then they turn around and walk away. That
makes you happy, doesn't it? As a parent, you just feel like
father of the year at that point. At that point, you want to turn
them back around and say, don't you turn to me the back. You
rather turn to me the face. See, sinners do that to God in
spades. Sinners do that to God all the
time, and not sinners out there, but sinners in here. This describes
us prior to our conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ. I think
it's important for us to remember this rock from whence we've been
hewn so that it will stir up the gratitude that we owe to
our God for so great a salvation. Notice what Paul goes on to say.
He says, we conducted ourselves. Actually, notice verse 3, among
whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
Notice that Paul is not saying, you wretched Gentiles in Ephesus,
you terrible monstrous people. Paul includes himself. Paul understands
that prior to his conversion to Jesus Christ, he was a man
who hated God. Prior to his conversion to Jesus
Christ, he may have appeared upright, he may have been a Pharisee,
he may have been a man who went about doing the religiosity of
that particular generation, but when Paul comes to deal truthfully
and honestly, and he understands something about redemptive grace,
he includes himself with these dirty, filthy Gentiles, and he
says, we, we all did this. This is a comprehensive problem. Look around at the world today.
You know what the recurring issue is? It's sin. It's not a lack
of money. It's not a lack of education.
It's not a lack of, you know, new green deals. It's a lack
of ethical disposition toward God. That's the issue today. Paul is describing man before
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, but as well he's describing what
society looks like apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ.
And it's disgusting, isn't it? It's truly wretched and repulsive.
Notice what he says there in verse 3, among whom also we all
once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind. This is why we speak
of total depravity. Sin isn't just the physical appendages. Sin is comprehensive. It's flesh
and mind. A man who is absolutely, positively,
utterly paralyzed from the top of his head to the end of his
big toe is a filthy sinner who stands in need of Jesus' blood
and righteousness. You say, well, that's not very
nice to our handicapped brethren. Well, if you ask our handicapped
brethren, and they have a Bible and an open heart by the grace
of God, they'll say the same thing. Remember our dear brother,
Johnny Farese, a man that had no ability in terms of getting
up and going out and sinning. He couldn't go buy crack cocaine.
He couldn't go visit prostitutes. But he saw himself as a wretch
who needed the grace of God most high. You see, it's not just
a flesh issue. But it is a flesh issue, and
it's a mind issue. Our problem is total. It's comprehensive. It's through and through. This
is the picture Paul portrays. And essentially, what he summarizes
is that we are lifeless and helpless and hopeless prior to God's grace
coming into our lives and bringing us to his beloved Son for the
salvation of our souls. That's a bleak before picture,
isn't it? I don't know that any of us ever
just sort of contemplate on what kind of men or women we were
prior to coming to Christ. I think this happens to me, you
know, the times that we go down to California, you know, you
ever get that where there's certain sights or certain smells or certain
environments that sort of cause, you know, memories to memory
recall? It happens in life. It happens
with all of us. And I'm not suggesting we need
to spend every moment of every day thinking about how bad we
once were. But once in a while, to think
about how bad we once were and how bad we presently are, will
give us a fresh apprehension of the glorious grace of God
Almighty. This is what God said to the
prophet, you are not to forget the rock from whence you've been
hewn. So we've got the origin, the
objects. Now let's look at the execution
of salvation. Who's involved here? Well, again,
it's the triune God. Notice, in the first place, it
is due to the love and mercy of God. Verse 4, I'm sure I've
told you this. In fact, I've probably told you
it ad nauseum, but listen to Lloyd-Jones on Ephesians 2.4.
It's got a whole sermon on those two words, but God. Look at the
contrast. Here's what we were, but God.
Here's how we found ourselves but God. Isn't that a beautiful
contrast? He doesn't leave us in that condition
of lifelessness, helplessness, hopelessness. He doesn't leave
us there but God. And in the first place, we see
that our salvation is owing to the love and mercy of God, but
God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which
he loved us. And I try to encourage us to
consider this in light of who God is according to the rest
of the Bible. He doesn't grow in His love for
us. He doesn't diminish in His love
for us. God's love for us is always of the most sort. He is most loving toward the
objects of His grace. He is most loving to each and
every one of us who by grace confess saving faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Who ever just ponder, does it
ever melt our hearts to consider, but God who is rich in mercy
because of his great love with which he loved us. I mean, just
mercy is good, isn't it? But this is rich mercy. Just
love is good, isn't it? But it's great love. You know,
the Apostle Paul was known to coin new words when he was writing
theology. Not like brand new words, but
he would take prepositions and add them to existing words to
make them even higher and better. And I think he's doing some of
that in this particular instance. to show the super-abounding grace
of God Most High. The Greek language didn't contain
the vocabulary the apostle needed, so he took words and pieced them
together so that he could extol the majesty and the excellency
and the glory of God. It is due, it is owing to, it
flows from the love and the mercy of God. Notice, secondly, it
is due to the resurrecting power of God in verses 5 to 7. even
when we were dead in trespasses." Again, he doesn't ever let us
forget what we were. Again, that's not because Paul
has some sick fascination with the misery that you have or should
have. He has a fascination with the
grace of God. He has a fascination with the
reality that even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins,
God begraced us. Even when we were at enmity with
Him, God loved us. Even when we were shaking our
fist and turning the back, when we weren't wanting to retain
the knowledge of God, even then the Lord was showing us this
mercy and this grace. But notice the language of verse
5. Even when we were dead in trespasses, He made us alive
together with Christ. Regeneration, the power of the
Holy Spirit, the glory of God Almighty. Remember, we're dead
in our trespasses and sins. How do we come to that place
of life? How do we believe the gospel of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ? The Spirit makes us alive. It's
another question. Does faith precede regeneration
or does regeneration precede faith? Why are there such foolish
questions ever asked in the realm of theology? How could there
be faith from a dead sinner? He must be regenerate. He must
be born again. He must be made alive. And the
reflex is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's Paul's point.
If you need to look for the power behind the salvation of sinners,
you're gonna have to look beyond the sinner to the God who resurrects
them from the dead. That's the point in verses five.
and following, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ. Parenthetically, he wants to
make sure you don't forget this. By grace, you have been saved.
And then note the beauty of verses six and seven. And raised us
up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. Now, I can't pretend to say that
I know everything that Paul means by that. But this much I do know. It's glorious. As much I do know,
it's awesome, it's blessed, it's wondrous, and it's by virtue
of our union with Jesus Christ. Where Christ is, we are, and
Paul can say that we are seated in the heavenly places by virtue
of that gracious, the grace of God, faith in Him, and that union
that obtains. And then note verse 7, that in
the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness toward us, in Christ Jesus. It's a beautiful
thing, isn't it? God has chosen several, great
multitude that no man can number according to the book of Revelation.
I know there's this idea, you know, there's just this handful
that's gonna be in heaven. The frozen chosen, I guess they
call them, or, you know, not many are called, or many are
called, but not many are chosen. And there's this idea that what
Jesus meant there was that there's not gonna be many sinners, not
many people, people in heaven. Well, Jesus making an ethical
point concerning the Jews of his particular generation. Jesus
also says that he shed his blood for the remission of the sins
of many. The scriptures envisage a time
when the knowledge of Yahweh will cover the earth as the waters
cover the sea. Brethren, we're not supposed
to look for just this handful that's going to fall into heaven
by God's grace, but a great multitude that no man can number. He shall
have dominion from sea to sea. That's the emphasis of Scripture.
And God has chosen those objects so that He can confer upon them
His grace, His kindness, His mercy. Isn't that amazing? It's like finding an old stray,
and taking that stray home, and bathing it, and combing it, and
caring for it, giving it a bowl of milk, and tending to its particular
needs. It's just doting on it to dote
on it, because that's what you do. You have that kind of love.
You have that kind of kindness. You have that kind of graciousness.
And you need to vent it on these objects of salvation. Notice Paul in Ephesians 3.10.
There's a sort of corresponding thought there as well. We'll just pick up at verse 8
in Ephesians 3. to me, whom less than the least of all the saints
this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the
fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages
has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ.
to the intent, look at God's intent, that now the manifold
wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities
and powers in the heavenly places. I sort of understand this text
this way. The church is a trophy case.
We're all bowling trophies. And the angels of the principalities
that look upon this place see those trophies and they say,
wow, the God who brought them together is glorious and amazing. You never go to somebody's house
and say, wow, that trophy is fantastic. That trophy on your
mantle is everything. No, it's a token of the everythingness
of the one who earned the trophy, the one who secured the trophy,
the one who is the victor of the trophy. The church is a trophy
case. And when the church gathers together
on the Sabbath day, the angels, the principalities, they look
down upon us, and they magnify the glorious grace of God, because
we're not going to heaven because of our goodness. We're not going
to heaven because of our law keeping. We're not going to go
to heaven because of our merit, but because of God most high.
See, that's the point. God saves his people to demonstrate
certain perfections of God. I've often said this in our theology
meetings on Saturdays and probably in the confession studies. Sometimes
people ask, well, why? Did God allow Adam and Eve to
sin? I suggest there's a few different
ways one can answer that question, but certainly one answer is that
because if Adam and Eve did not sin, there would be no need for
the redemptive work of Jesus. In other words, the sin of Adam
and Eve is the occasion for displaying the manifold riches of God's
grace in the salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ. Prior to the
fall of man, the angels understood many of the perfections of God,
but grace Mercy, redemption, blood atonement, those things
were wanting or lacking. But now, every time an angel
looks upon this group gathered together, the angel says, what
a display of God's amazing grace. I'd like to think we think that
as well, right? We're not here because we're
good. We're not here because we merit. We're not heaven-bound
because we've performed well. We are heaven-bound because of
the grace of God. Notice, thirdly, he specifically
highlights the grace of God in verse 8. He says, for by grace
you have been saved. For by grace you have been saved. The salvation of God flows from
the grace of God. Certainly love and mercy, resurrection
power, all those components, all those elements are there.
But the direct causal agent that God uses in terms of our salvation
is not our goodness, but His graciousness. For by grace you
have been saved. The grace of God that is conspicuous
in chapter 1. Notice in chapter 1. Chapter
1, specifically at verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His
grace by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Verse 7, in Him
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of His grace. All of this grace is manifested
in the salvation of our wretched souls. For by grace you have
been saved. This amplifies or explains what
he means in verses 4 to 7. Notice in verse 7, that in the
ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace. And so he reminds us now in verse
8, The reason that you are in Christ is owing to the grace
of God. And then he says, fourthly, it
is through faith in Jesus Christ. For by grace you've been saved
through faith. Faith is the instrument. Faith
is the means by which God brings the sinner into saving union
with Jesus Christ. Now, you need to see something
with reference to the text. He doesn't say you are saved
because of faith. You're saved by grace through
faith. There are some who teach unhappily
that we are saved because of our faith. That seems to imply
that we have a previous faith that we bring to the table, and
then God confers upon us this gracious salvation. That's not
Paul's point. It is very conspicuous. It is
very specific. It is through faith. It's an
instrumental. It's not a causal agent. We don't
bring faith to the table and then God rewards us. Faith is
given by God to us so that we may lay hold of Jesus Christ.
And the way to understand that, for by grace you've been saved
through faith and that not of yourselves, I've already mentioned,
there's a big debate, this not of yourselves, does that mean
the faith? I think it means the whole section. Grace through
faith, salvation is not from yourselves. Grace through faith,
salvation comes from God. Grace through faith, salvation
is conveyed freely by God to needy sinners that find themselves
in the condition outlined by Paul in verses one to three.
And faith is a gift. Now, in this particular passage,
again, I think it's the grace through faith, salvation, that
is the gift of God, that is not of yourselves. But turn to Philippians
chapter 1 for just one illustration of the grace character of faith,
the fact that it is a gift given by God. And if you're following, you'll
know it has to be this way, because dead men don't exercise faith
in Jesus. Dead men don't say, oh, I've
heard the gospel, I'm gonna believe the gospel. No, God raises them
from the dead, and God conveys upon them the grace of faith,
so that they may believe the gospel. in an instrumental way. It's not causal. We don't bring
faith to the table, and God rewards us with salvation. Salvation
by grace through faith is conveyed by God to needy sinners. But notice in Philippians 1.29,
and the fact that faith is a gift is not Paul's point in verse
29. The fact that faith is a gift
is incidental. The emphasis of Paul is on suffering
for the gospel's sake. Notice in verse 29 of Philippians
1, For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only
to believe in him, Again, you see how that's just an incidental
point? Paul's not in some dispute here
with Arminians or Pelagians, arguing where faith comes from. And I want to show you that it's
a gift given by... That's assumed. That's incidental. We all know that. Because dead
sinners don't exercise faith in a living Savior. They have
to be born again. They have to be made new. They
have to be regenerated. They have to be given those gifts
so that they then can exercise them. So Paul's point here is
on suffering. For to you it has been granted
on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to
suffer for his sake. So back to our text. It is through
faith in Jesus Christ. Now, Paul goes on to make sure
that we don't miss this. I think Paul wrote Ephesians
2, 8 to 10, you know, for people that need a few raps on the head
occasionally to make sure that you can't mess this up. You ever
kind of get that in your life? You just feel like you mess everything
up? Well, sinners mess up the plan of salvation a whole lot.
But it's not owing to Paul, because Paul couldn't make it any clearer.
Paul couldn't make it any more conspicuous. Paul could not highlight
the grace of God any more than he's already doing. Notice what
he says in verse 8. For by grace you have been saved
through faith, that not of yourselves. Again, the grace through faith,
salvation, specifically including faith. And then he goes on to
say, it is the gift of God. It's given freely. It's grace
to display of His love and mercy, to display of His affection.
It's His having chosen us before the foundation of the world.
It's Christ's blood atonement. It's the Spirit's work of sealing
and guaranteeing all of that by grace. It's the gift of God. And then verse 9, not of works
lest anyone should boast. Now again, could you possibly
conceive how Paul could be any more clear to demonstrate that
it's not what sinners bring to the table, but it's how God saves
that is uppermost in the apostles' thought? There's no contribution,
there's no my faith, there's no my repentance, and then God
owes me, and then God gives me. That's not it at all. It's not
of yourselves. It's the gift of God, and it's
all designed lest anyone should boast. Turn back to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 for just a moment. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, same
emphasis seen by the apostle. Verse 26, for you see your calling,
brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen
the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which
are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things
which you despise God has chosen, and the things which are not
to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should
glory in his presence. But of Him. Again, it's of God
you're in Him. It's not you and God. He's not
your co-pilot. You get that sort of cheesy theology
once in a while. God's my co-pilot. No, not at
all. And praise God for that. We don't
want God as our co-pilot because that assumes that we're the pilot.
We want God in absolute, sovereign control of every jot and tittle. That's where the people of God
are safe. That's where the people of God are secure. That's where
the people of God are happy. Not when He's their co-pilot,
but notice, but of Him. You are in Christ Jesus, who
became for us wisdom from God. Now these next three words flesh
out what this means, wisdom from God. We could translate, but
of him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from
God. That is righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Notice verse
31, that as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in
the Lord. Go back to Romans chapter four
for just a moment. Romans chapter four. focusing
on that bit where he says, lest anyone should boast. Notice in
Romans 4 verse 1, what then shall we say that Abraham our father
has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified
by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. You see brethren, the pesky truth
is, is that if we had one iota to boast, We would do it. We would do it in a heartbeat
if we contributed a millimeter. I guess that's the lowest form
in the metric system. I'm still new to that after 22
years here. I still use Fahrenheit on my
phone. I still think in those categories. Sorry. But the very
smallest contribution is pulling out the water. If we could, we
would. MacArthur has said, if you could
lose your salvation, you would lose it. If you could boast,
you would boast. But there's no boasting before
God, because it's a gracious, through faith, salvation conveyed
freely upon lifeless helpless, hopeless, wretches that were
children of wrath, even as the others. But God, who is rich
in mercy, who has great love, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. Now, before we end, I want to
point out one other thing that we need to be aware of with reference
to this grace through faith salvation. There are those who teach this
is grace through faithfulness salvation. That group is called
Roman Catholicism. That group is called Federal
Vision. That group is any group who sees our covenantal faithfulness
as somehow part of our justification before God. That's not Paul's
point. Paul means here the faith wherein,
by grace, we believe the objective content of the Christian gospel. It's not our faithfulness that's
in view. Again, if it was, we'd boast. If it was, we'd take credit.
If it was, we'd say a little Jesus and a lot of me got me
into this heavenly place. No, our confession is far more
excellent when it highlights that the ground of our justification
is the active and passive obedience of Jesus Christ. It is faith
that lays hold of that. Faithfulness has a place in the
Christian life under the category of sanctification. But with reference
to justification and salvation, it's grace alone, through faith
alone, in Christ Jesus alone. John Piper also teaches this. Our faithfulness is absolutely
crucial to land us in heaven. Brethren, that's the worst possible
news I could ever, ever dole out. The gloriousness of the
Christian gospel is that it's not our faithfulness. It's Christ's
faithfulness. It's His doing. It's His dying. It's His rising the third day.
That's the warrant for our entrance into heaven. Not our contribution. Not what we add. Not what we
do in our imperfect sanctification. In other words, we are solely
received based on the justifying work of God Most High in the
person of Jesus Christ. The Spirit's work in us vis-Ã -vis
sanctification, our faithfulness, our obedience, all of that is
crucial. All of that is absolutely imperative. But that's not what lands you
in heaven. What lands you in heaven is the
Savior King. And the last observation is just
that. Notice that this gracious salvation
of our God, this gracious salvation of our God, is unto good works. Verse 10. See, there's a pendulum
in all matters theological. On the one hand, we We don't
want to be Roman Catholic, so we'll end up as antinomian. We
don't want to be antinomian, so we'll end up as Roman Catholic.
How about we be Pauline and listen to what he says and appreciate
the categories of justification and sanctification? Notice what
Paul says in verse 10. Four, we are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them. We are created in Christ Jesus
for good works, not because of them. We're not created in Christ
Jesus because of our good works, but we're created in Christ Jesus
for those good works. So sanctification necessarily
follows justification, but our entrance into heaven comes as
a result of the Savior's work for us and not the Spirit's work
in us. Now, persons will say, John Piper,
one of them, heresy, blasphemy, terrible. I'm not mitigating
the work of the Spirit in us. But read the Bible, read the
confessions of faith. Why will you and I go to heaven?
Because of the active and the passive obedience of our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's not what we wrought out,
it's what Christ wrought out. Our confession grasps this beautifully,
this connection between justification and sanctification in the chapter
on saving faith. In chapter 14, paragraph 2, excuse
me, But the principal acts of saving
faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving,
and resting upon Him alone for justification, sanctification,
and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace. And then
the chapter specifically on justification, speaking to this. Verse 10, situation. Yeah, we're justified freely
by His grace. Yes, we've received the forgiveness
of sins. Yes, we've received the imputed righteousness of
Christ, and we've received it by faith alone. That doesn't
mean we just sit on the couch and do nothing. Our confession
says, faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness
is the alone instrument of justification. Yet it is not alone in the person
justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces
and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. The apostle couldn't
be clearer. We're saved by grace through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Unto good works. But on that
final day, our acceptance by God is because of what Christ
wrought out for us. And that is wherein we have joy,
we have stability, and we have security. This is what Paul means
in Romans 5.1. Therefore, having been justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Paul means in Romans
chapter 8 verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus. Believer, do you ever just embrace
those truths and say, praise God Almighty. We'll take Ephesians
chapters 1 and 2 and may this serve for you, provide for you
fodder and matter by which to express your gratitude and worship
and adoration to the living and the true God. Well, let us close
in a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank you for
your word. We thank you for the clarity of the Apostle Paul and
for the beauty of the grace of God displayed in our hearts and
lives. We know it's not because of our deeds. It's not because
of our contribution. It's because of what Christ has
accomplished in his life of obedience and his personal obedience to
the law and then that obedience unto death at Calvary. We give
praise to you for this. We thank you for the means of
the supper. And we pray that you would strengthen
us now and encourage our hearts. And we ask in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
