Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow
along in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the book
of Ephesians, chapter two. And the title of today's message
is Together with Christ. Together with Christ. And I was
talking about this last week, about how the Apostle Paul, as
he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words, he spoke
of a quickening. Now the word quicken or quickening
has to do in the Bible with the giving of spiritual life in the
new birth. You recall in John chapter three
when Christ spoke to Nicodemus. And Nicodemus who was a religious
man and Christ told him, he said, Nicodemus, you must be born again
or you cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. The kingdom of
God speaks of Christ and the salvation that He fully and freely
provides for His people through His substitutionary death on
the cross. The establishment of that kingdom
is what Christ did on the cross. He spoke to His disciples about
the coming of the kingdom. in the kingdom of God. It's a
spiritual kingdom, it's not an earthly kingdom, he said. And
so he told Nicodemus, and he tells us, you must be born again
or you cannot see or enter the kingdom of heaven. The reason
we must be born again is because we are by nature fallen in Adam,
ruined by the fall, and we are born naturally, physically, in
spiritual death and depravity. Now, what that means is that
we have no desire or capacity to know and believe and love
and live by the things that glorify and honor God. We won't even
believe the gospel unless we're born again. You know, people
today, they think, well, that the new birth is the result of
their decision. That's called decisional regeneration. Regeneration means the giving
of new life. But the Bible doesn't teach that.
That's a false doctrine. Regeneration, the new birth,
the quickening, is not based upon your decision, your believing. Your decision for Christ and
your believing is the result of being born again. And somebody
says, well, how are we born again? Well, by the Spirit, sovereignly,
invincibly, by the will of God. And no preacher can control that.
And you cannot control that. We simply go out and we preach
the gospel to anyone who listens and God sends the Spirit through
Christ and quickens whom He will. And they're born of God. And
the evidence of that quickening, the evidence of that new birth
is that they believe the gospel. The cause of the new birth is
Christ and His righteousness. Romans 8.10 is a verse I quote
quite often. And it says, if Christ be in
you, and that means if you've been born again and spiritually
quickened, awakened, and if Christ is in you by His Spirit and by
His Word, the life, spiritual life given, you've been born
again, if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin.
This physical body is still dying. We'll get old and die because
of sin, that's a consequence. But the Spirit, the Holy Spirit
is life, eternal life, spiritual life, because of righteousness. And where do you find righteousness?
Only in the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, righteousness is the perfection of righteousness that can only
be found in and by Christ. Your believing does not make
you righteous. Christ made you right, if you're
one of his now. I'm not talking to everybody
without exception. If you believe the gospel, you know that Christ
is your righteousness. And so Paul had talked about
that quickening, but then again he, and he talks about how that
this quickening is a matter of God's sovereign mercy and love. Look at verse four, but God,
Ephesians 2 verse 4, but God who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us, talking about his people
now, not everybody without exception there. My friend, there's no
love from God outside of Christ. And all whom God loves in Christ
shall be quickened, shall be saved. And he says in verse five,
even when we were dead in sins, spiritually dead, In other words,
it wasn't conditioned on us, it wasn't due to anything we
did or were unable to do, wasn't due to our decision or our believing. Listen, God had mercy upon his
chosen people, his elect, in Christ, even when they were dead
in sins. And then he mentions another
quickening. Look at verse five. Even when we were dead in sins
hath quickened us together with Christ. Now, the King James translators
put this in parenthesis, and that's okay, because this is
what Paul's saying. By grace you are saved. Or by whose grace you are saved. So he's talking about a quickening
here that all of God's children participated in, with Christ,
together with Christ. And look at verse six, he talks
about this together. This is the key word now. And
hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ. So the quickening that he's speaking
of here is a quickening that everyone whom God chose before
the foundation of the world and gave to Christ, everyone for
whom Christ died was buried and arose again, everyone who will
be quickened individually throughout time in the world and be born
again and brought to faith in Christ, everyone who will be
glorified and live eternally with Him, participated in together
as one body. Now, what is he talking about?
Well, he's not talking about the new birth in verse five,
because the new birth is not something that every one of God's
children experience together at one time, like he's speaking
of here. You see, God's people, God's
chosen people, the ones whom he gave to Christ, the ones for
whom Christ died, the ones whom he's justified, that is, forgiven
all their sins and declared them righteous in His sight based
upon the blood of Christ, they will, each one individually at
God's appointed time, be born again. They'll be quickened individually.
They'll be given spiritual life, brought to faith in Christ and
repentance of dead works. But that didn't happen at the
same time for all believers. For example, it happened to the
Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road. several thousand years
ago. Didn't happen to me then. It
happened to me over 30 years ago. But here is a time that
he's speaking of, a quickening that he's speaking of, in which
me, which I, and the apostle Paul, were quickened together
with Christ. And what's he talking about here?
Well, what he's talking about is every true believer's union
with Christ legally. As Christ died for all their
sins at one time, together, all the sins of all of God's elect,
all the sins of all of Christ's sheep, same thing, were laid
on Christ, imputed to Him, and he died for their sins. One time. The Bible says in Hebrews
10 and verse 14, by one offering, he hath perfected them that are
sanctified forever. So who are the ones who are sanctified
forever? That's God's chosen people. That's
the ones who are justified in God's sight. That's the ones
for whom Christ died on the cross. That's the ones who will be born
again in their day at some point in time appointed of God by the
power of the Spirit. That's who they are. Them that
are sanctified. They were set apart. That's what
sanctified means. They were set apart by God before
the foundation of the world. And what does it say that Christ
did on the cross? He perfected them. That means
he completed them. He died for all their sins imputed
to Him and He satisfied the law and justice of God and brought
forth righteousness by His work, His obedience unto death for
all of them. The perfection of what was required
for them to be saved was completed. Their salvation was ensured,
perfected. By what Christ did and what did
he do? He offered himself without spot
to God. He went under the law of God,
the justice of God, for the sins of his people imputed, charged
to him, and by that one offering, he perfected that. That's what
Paul's talking about here in verse five. When Christ died,
all of his people died. He's their surety, their substitute,
their representative, their redeemer. When he died, they all died.
When he was buried, they all were buried. When he arose from
the dead, that's the quickening here, they all rose with him,
legally. They were quickened together
with Christ. And that emphasizes this fact,
that by grace you are saved. In other words, salvation, is
not based upon our participation by anything we do or don't do
or decide or don't decide. No, sir. It's totally based upon
what Christ did in his death, burial, and resurrection. Now,
salvation, when it's applied to us individually in the new
birth, includes our participation. We will participate. We will make a decision and it'll
be the right one. Now why? Because God gives us
a new heart, a new mind. He makes us willing in the day
of his power. If left to ourselves without
the new birth, we would never make the right decision. We would
never believe. And that's what Paul goes on
to prove here. Look at verse six of Ephesians two. See, grace is salvation conditioned
on Christ. works is salvation conditioned
on me and you. It's not conditioned on me and
you. It's conditioned on Christ. And so he says in verse six,
and hath raised us up together. That's the resurrection, you
see. That's the quickening that he's talking about. And made
us sit together. Christ is in heaven, seated at
the right hand of the Father, ever living to make an intercession
for us. And he represents his people. He's the surety of His people. God's elect, His sheep. He pleads
on behalf of His sheep. And He's made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The assurance of salvation
is not because I did anything or decided anything. The assurance
of salvation is not because I'm doing anything. The assurance
of salvation is the fact that Christ is seated in the heavenlies,
ever living to make intercession for me, and the evidence that
he's doing it for me is that I believe in him, I trust him,
I rest in him. You see? Faith is not the ground
or the cause of the new birth or salvation, it's the evidence
of the new birth, of salvation itself. And that's what he says,
look at verse seven here. of Ephesians 2, that in the ages
to come, he might show forth the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness, or you might say his mercy and love toward
us through Christ Jesus, based upon the blood of Christ, his
righteousness. And so he summarizes it this
way in these next three verses. Look at it. Ephesians 2a, for
by grace are you saved. It's all grace. It's a free gift. It's not earned and it's not
deserved. And let me just get your attention here now. Romans
5.21 tells us that grace reigns through righteousness just as
sin reigns unto death, grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. You see, God's love
and God's grace and God's mercy are not arbitrary things. They're
not just some blanket disposition of God that is placed upon all
people without exception and only powerful to save if they
will believe or they will cooperate. No, sir. The grace, the love,
the mercy of God is towards His chosen people in Christ based
on His righteousness alone that ensures their salvation, that
ensures their new birth, that ensures they'll be quickened
individually, that ensures that they will have faith. So look
at it again, chapter two and verse eight of Ephesians now.
For by grace are you saved through faith. Now that means by means
of faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Faith
is not the product of yourself. Faith is not the fruit of your
free will decision. You don't have a free will. If
you're in the natural state, man is in bondage to sin. The
Bondage of the Will is one famous book about that. Man will not
come to, listen. Christ said in John 6, 44, no
man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw
him and I'll raise him up again at the last day. God's got to
draw him. Now how's God draw him? Through
the new birth. He gives him life from the dead. He quickens him. Gives him knowledge
and faith. Now some commentators, and I'll
caution you on this, when they go to verse eight, they'll say
that when it says, that not of yourselves, it's the gift of
God, that that doesn't refer to faith, but it refers to salvation. Well, let me say this about that.
It does refer to salvation, but my friends, salvation includes
believing, faith. So it includes all of salvation.
Salvation is not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, lest any
man should boast. But that includes faith. Faith,
too, is not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works. Verse nine, not of works, lest
any man should boast. You know, a lot of people today,
they make faith a work. How do they do that? Because
they make faith their savior. If you believe that Christ died
for everybody and the salvation is conditioned on you, your believing,
Christ isn't your savior. You'd have to say he died for
those who enter hell because they didn't do what they were
supposed to do. They didn't believe. So Christ isn't your savior,
faith is. Well, that's not what the Bible
teaches. That's salvation by works. That's the subtlety of
Satan. That's walking according to the
prints of the power of the air. Child of disobedience. My faith
does not make the difference between my being saved or lost. Christ made the difference, and
I know he made the difference for me because he gave me the
gift of faith. So listen to it again, verse
eight. For by grace are you saved, through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Well,
you say, well, God gives that to everybody, but some reject
it. The Bible doesn't teach that. No, sir. The Bible tells us that
when God gives faith, that's a believer. And it's not of works,
verse nine, lest any man should boast. So look at verse 10. Now
here's how he sums it up. For we are his workmanship. Now that tells you that a true
believer, a born again person, A saved person is not self-made. He's not his own creation. You
didn't create yourself. God created that person. We are his workmanship. He's
the potter, we're the clay, Romans 9 says. You know, some people,
there's a little saying that's kind of, revealing, as well as
comical, where they talk about a person who has a great ego. And they'll say he's a self-made
man, and he's in love with his creator. But you know, that's
a good description of false religion, even false Christianity. People
believe that they made the difference. And they believe that God accepted
what they did. Well, that's a God like unto
themselves, not the God of the Bible. The true God of the Bible
is one who justifies the ungodly based upon the righteousness
of his son. And that will bring faith to
his people. So Ephesians 2.10, we are his
workmanship. Now, how did he work all this?
How did he create us? He says, created in Christ Jesus. That's how the creation, you
know, a sinner saved by grace is called the new creation. Well, who created him? Well,
there's no argument God created him physically. You didn't create
yourself physically and put yourself in your mother's womb and birth
yourself. Well, my friend, it's just as
true when it comes to spiritual life and the new birth. We're
His creation, and He created us in Christ Jesus. And that's
what He's talking about, together with Christ. Christ is my surety. My sins
were charged to His account. And He willingly took on the
responsibility of saving me from my sins. And in order to do that,
He had to be made like unto His brethren, as Hebrews 2 says,
He had to become man without sin. The Word made flesh to dwell
among us. It's what he had to be. The angel
told Joseph in Matthew 121, his name shall be called Jesus. That
means salvation. For he shall save his people
from their sins. Now, are you sure he's able to
do that? Well, verse 23 says, Matthew 123, his name shall be
called Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is God with us. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
tabernacled among us. That's who Jesus Christ is, and
He's my surety. My sins were laid upon Him, and
in order for Him to pay for those sins, to die, He had to become
man without sin. He's the God-man without sin. And in order to pay for those
sins, he had to go under the law of God. The Bible says in
Galatians 4, in verse 4, But when the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of woman, that's His
humanity without sin, God-man, made under the law. That means
that all of my sins having been imputed charge to him, he had
to go under the penalty of the law. He had to be made a curse
for us. He had to be made sin. He had
to die on the cross to satisfy the justice of God and pay my
sin debt. And that was the redemption of
his people. He were redeemed by the blood
of Christ. And that's what this is. created
in Christ Jesus. And how do you know this is a
new creation instead of condemnation and destruction and death? Because
Christ died, he was buried, but he didn't stay dead. He arose
again the third day. So that we can say if we believe
the gospel, if we've been brought by God, to believe the gospel. If we've been born again and
given the gift of faith in Christ and repentance of dead works,
we can say that I was quickened together with Christ, raised
up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus. And notice back in verse 10,
for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Now notice what
it says, unto good works. Now notice it says unto good
works, not because of good works. You see that? If you believe
that you made the difference, then that's a work, you see. My salvation is not because I
made the difference, it's because Christ made the difference, it's
His work. But the Bible says here that those who died together,
were buried together, raised together, and raised up and made
to sit together with Christ, They're God's workmanship created
in Christ unto good works. Good works are the effect, the
result, the fruit of what God has done for me in Christ. Good
works do not save us. Good works do not make us fit
for heaven. Good works do not keep us safe. Good works do not earn God's
blessings for us or our rewards in heaven. Our reward in heaven
is Christ. And we stand in him, in his righteousness. Not having my own righteousness,
Paul said, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness of God, which is
by faith, we receive by faith. So good works do not save us.
They don't keep us saved. They will not bring us to glory.
They will not give us a bigger mansion in heaven. We have all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's
Ephesians 1.3. We don't earn God's blessings.
We don't deserve them. It's all in Christ, and it's
not of works, lest any man should boast, but there will be good
works as the fruit and the effect. And it says in verse 10, which
God hath before ordained, prepared, foreordained that we should walk
in them. Good works are the work of God
in us by the power of the Spirit through Christ, and it's the
foreordination, the predestination of God that His people should
walk in them. Now that doesn't mean that we're
not going to still be sinners saved by grace, but we'll follow
Christ and rest in Him for all salvation. Hope you'll join us
next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
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today and may the Lord be with you.