Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
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Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
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for today's program. welcome to our program today
i'm glad you could join us now if you'd like to follow along
in your bibles i'll be preaching from the book of ephesians chapter
two i'll begin in uh... verse ten and i'm going to try
to carry this all the way to the end of the chapter if i can
get through it with the time allotted but the title of the
message is one body in christ jesus one body in Christ Jesus. The body that I'm going to be
talking about is the Church. The true Church of the Living
God. My point is that the true Church
is one body, not two, not three, not four, not many denominations,
but one body united by and in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians
chapter two, verse 10, I concluded with this verse last week. But
it says in verse 10 of Ephesians two, for we are his workmanship. Now, who are the we there? Well,
we there refers to believers. Sinners saved by the grace of
God in Christ Jesus. They are those for whom Christ
died on the cross. whose sins have been put away
by the blood of Jesus Christ. Their sins, having been charged,
imputed, accounted to Him, they stand before God, washed in the
blood of Christ, clothed in His righteousness. They were chosen
by God before the foundation of the world. That's what Ephesians
chapter 1 speaks of. They are the elect of God. You
know, when I was growing up in false religion, we always understood
the doctrine of election as just referring to the Jews. But what
I want you to see here is that the elect of God is the body
of Christ, the church. Every true believer is elect. That's what the Bible teaches.
And so we need to understand that. And that's what he's saying,
for we are his workmanship. If we're sinners saved by grace,
individually, and part of this collective body of Christ, we
need to understand that we are not self-made. It is not the
product of our works. And listen to me. It's not the
product of our decision or our will. Now, the people of God
are brought by God the Holy Spirit in conviction to choose Christ,
to desire to come to Him. But we don't have that desire
naturally. If left to our natural selves,
we will not choose the true and living God. Now, we can choose
religion. We can join the church. We can reform outwardly. We can
stop doing this and start doing that, but we can't choose the
true Christ because we don't want him. We want another way. And that's what Paul dealt with
in the first part of Ephesians chapter two. So if we're sinners
saved by grace and part of this body of Christ, we're his workmanship,
verse 10, created in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the Savior. He's the builder of the church.
He told Peter and the apostles, upon this rock I will build my
church. Now the rock there is not Peter,
as some suppose. The rock there is Christ himself,
as expressed in Peter's confession. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. He said, upon this rock, the
rock of Christ. Christ is the rock and the foundation
of the church, not Peter, not Paul. Not some preacher. Christ is the foundation of the
church. The church is built upon Him.
Framed together by Him. And so we're created in Christ
Jesus. Christ died for His church, His
people, His sheep. He put away their sins and He
brought forth a righteousness that's imputed to them whereby
God is just to justify them. And that same righteousness which
God imputed to them, charged, accounted to them, is the source
from which they are born again. They have life from God. So he
says, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, not because
of good works, not based on good works, but unto good works. Good
works are the fruit and the effect. And let me say this too, good
works do not save us. They are not our righteousness
before God. Good works are the fruit and
effect of Christ. His power and His righteousness
imputed, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them." So now look at verse 11. He says, wherefore, that
means for this reason, remember that you being in time past Gentiles
in the flesh. Now the churches here, you know,
when you go through the New Testament, the book of Romans, the book
of 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, and so on. The church
was usually made up of believing Gentiles and believing Jews. Those who had been converted
to Christ. And so he says to the Gentiles
in the church at Ephesus. Now these are believers. Wherefore
remember that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who
are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands you see the uncircumcision was a
term that the Jews used for the Gentiles and the circumcision
is the term that the Jews used for themselves so there was Gentiles
and Jews and he's saying remember that in time past in the flesh
you were Gentiles who were called the uncircumcision by the Jews
in the flesh made by hands. Verse 12, that at that time you
were without Christ. Alright, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers or foreigners from the covenants
of promise having no hope and without God in the world. Now
he's referring there to the time of the Old Covenant. The Old
Covenant Law. the law of Moses. That time began
at Mount Sinai. You remember when God brought
the Hebrew children out of Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea and
they camped and Moses went up into Mount Sinai and God gave
him the law and he came back down and he eventually established
a covenant with the nation Israel. That covenant was a conditional
covenant and it lasted about 1500 years from Sinai up to the
cross During the time of that covenant, we saw the history
of Israel was like every other set of fallen human beings, which
was a time of disobedience and idolatry and rebellion. And that
covenant was conditional and they failed just like we all
would. But that covenant was a glorious thing in that there
were pictures and types of the Lord Jesus Christ and there were
messages of the gospel that were integrated to show them that
salvation was not by their law keeping but by the grace of God
through the Messiah the promised Messiah who would come and fulfill
all righteousness and that's the promises that he talked about
here and during that time the Gentiles were estranged And he
says, you were being alienated from, being aliens from the Commonwealth
of Israel, the nation of it. You were foreigners from the,
and from the covenants of promise, the covenant with Abraham, and
then the covenant with David. And then he says, having no hope
and without God in the world. That, that refers to most of
the Gentile world. During the time of the old covenant,
there were a few Gentiles who were brought into the commonwealth
of Israel and some who even learned the gospel. But you realize that
most of the nation Israel under that covenant remained lost because
they didn't see the reality of what that covenant said. It convicted
them of sin and drove them to Christ. But look at verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, you
who sometime were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. In other words, the Gentiles,
who are sinners saved by grace, who were just as much the elect
of God before the foundation of the world, and those for whom
Christ died, they are now, they who believe, now not all Gentiles
without exception here, but all who have been brought into the
kingdom, of Christ, the New Testament church, they've been made nigh,
they've come near to God by the blood of Jesus Christ. That's
grace. So what he's saying here is that
those who are saved by grace, whether they be Gentile or Jew,
they're made nigh, they come near to God by the blood of Jesus
Christ. Now the blood speaks of His death.
and his death speaks of justice satisfied as he died on the cross
as the surety and substitute of his people. So in other words,
the Gentiles world, which was during the time of the old covenant,
alienated from God and outside of the covenant. Now those by
the gospel and by the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles,
those who believe have been made nigh. near to God. There's a hymn called nearer
my God to thee. Well, if you're near to God means
you're accepted with God. It means you're justified before
God. It means you have fellowship
with God and it pleases God. How is all that brought about?
Is it by your works? No. Is it by your will? No. It's by the blood of Jesus. That's what brings sinners near
to God. Apart from Christ, apart from
the grace of God in Christ based on the blood, the justice satisfied,
the righteousness of Christ imputed, charged, accounted, sinners are
alienated from God. But he says, you Gentiles, you
Gentile believers, you've been made nigh on the basis, the ground,
of the work of Christ in his obedience unto death to satisfy
justice and bring forth a righteousness whereby God can be just to justify
that's the blood of Christ look at verse 14 now for he is our
peace who hath made now listen this who hath made both one and
have broken down the middle wall of partition between us verse
15 having abolished in his flesh," that's the body that was given,
his human body without sin, his death, "...he abolished in his
flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments," that's the
old covenant, "...contained in ordinances. For to make in himself,"
in Christ, "...of twain," or two, "...one new man, so making
peace." Now think about that. What is he saying here? First
of all, Christ is our peace. Now the peace that he's talking
about is a two-fold peace. First of all, there's peace with
God. You know the Bible speaks about
God being reconciled to his people by Jesus Christ. Because of our
sin and depravity, There's a rift, there's a warfare, there's a
chasm between God and His people. How can God be reconciled to
His people? There's only one way, by Jesus
Christ. Second Corinthians 5, I think
it's verse 18 and 19 speaks of that. And if God has been reconciled
to His elect by the blood of Christ, at some point in time,
His people are gonna be brought to be reconciled to Him. on the
same ground. Be ye reconciled to God. And
the basis is that Christ was made sin for us, Christ who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
That's the ground of reconciliation. That's the gospel of peace. Made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Peace by the cross. That's how justice satisfied,
righteousness established. That's the ground of peace between
God and sinners. Well, Christ is our peace. If you have peace with God, you
didn't make it, Christ made it. If you have peace with God, you
entered into it by God-given faith, believing in Him. So he
says, Christ is our peace. And what he's talking about there,
he hath made both one, verse 14, Who's the both one? Broken down the middle wall partition.
Back in the days of Christ's earthly pilgrimage, there was
the temple in Jerusalem. It was a temple of Herod. It
was an expansion and a remodeling of the second temple that was
built by Zerubbabel and the Jews on their return to Babylon. And
some people call it the third temple. Some just say the second
temple. It doesn't matter. But in that temple, they had
an area that was marked off by a wall beyond which no Gentile,
even Gentiles who converted to Judaism, no Gentile could go
past. Only Jews, ethnic Jews could
go into the inner chamber of that particular place. And they
called that the middle wall partition. So there was a division under
the old covenant. There was a division between
Jew and Gentile. Do you know what he's saying
here? Now, in Christ, because of what Christ accomplished on
the cross, and having been brought into the kingdom of God by Christ,
by the grace of God in Christ, there is no division now between
Jew and Gentile. Now people today, they want to
keep that division alive, but there is no division now between
Jew and Gentile. He says, verse 15, He abolished
in His flesh the enmity, that is, the hatred, the division. Even the Law of Commandments
containing orders, even that old covenant that was given to
the Jewish nation, that's been abolished by way of fulfillment.
And God did this to make in Himself, in Christ, of two, one new man. One body in Christ Jesus. So making peace. Now there's
peace established. This is the second. First aspect,
peace between God and sinners. Second aspect, peace among men. Not the world. There's no peace
in the world. But peace among believers who
look to Christ for all salvation. They're together. And verse 16
says it this way. It says, and that he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby." Christ removed that division by His death on the
cross and His death, burial, and resurrection equaling righteousness. You see, if any Gentile is saved,
it is by the grace of God based on the righteousness, the cross,
the blood, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if any Jew
is saved, it is by the grace of God based on the righteousness,
the blood, the death, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
when sinners are brought to see that by God-given faith, they
are brought together in one new man. That's the church. One body
in Christ. There's no division now. See? We all have, we who are saved,
have equal approach and acceptance with God by the blood of the
cross. No division. Now, he says in
verse 17, he says that Christ slew that enmity, he removed
the division thereby, and he came and preached peace to you
which were far off and to them that were nigh. Jew and Gentile. See, it's peace by the cross
and he says in verse 18, for through Him we both have access
by one Spirit unto the Father. It's through Christ. It's by
the grace of God. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. You see that? So there's no such
thing as a saved Jew having a higher position or being closer to God
or anything like that than a saved Gentile or vice versa. There
is no merit to being a Gentile. There is no merit to being a
Jew. It is all one by virtue of the
merits of Christ. You understand that? It's grace
for all. and so he says in verse nineteen
now listen to this he says now therefore you are no more strangers
and foreigners you gentile believers you're not you're not strangers
and foreigners anymore but your fellow citizens with the saints
what's a saint? a sinner saved by grace sanctified
by God through Christ by the Holy Spirit and of the household
of God. You Gentiles who are saved by
grace are equal members, equal members of the family of God
with the Jews in Christ. And he says in verse 20, you're
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And
what is that foundation? Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. That's what the prophets and
the apostles preached. They preached Christ. Salvation
by grace in Christ. In verse 21, he says, in whom
all the building, that's the church, that's the body, fitly
framed together. Now, who did the framing here?
God did. Fitly, that is rightly, appropriately
framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. That's
the church. Verse 22, in whom you also are
builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. Now
let me read you a couple more verses. And I want to show you
something here that's very important. Over in the book of Romans, chapter
2, in verse 28, Paul dealt with this. And let me say it this
way. Who are the elect of God? the
chosen of God and I'll tell you who they are according to the
Bible every sinner who has been saved by the grace of God who
has been quickened by the whole who has been who for whom Christ
died and put away their sins and established in righteousness
having imputed righteousness to them every sinner who has
been born again by the Spirit is the elect of God the church
of the living God the sheep of his fold, the household of God. Now that's so. And so the Bible describes them in different ways
in the New Testament. For example, they are called
spiritual Jews. Did you hear what I said? They're
called spiritual Jews. If you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ as he's identified and distinguished in the Word, you're
a spiritual Jew. I'm a spiritual Jew. Listen to
this, Romans 2, 28 and 29. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision
is that of the heart. Now circumcision of the heart
is the new birth. being born again, in the Spirit,
not in the letter, not in the written law, whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Spiritual Jew. Now, they are
also called Abraham's seed. If you're a believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ, again, as He is identified and distinguished
in the Word, You're Abraham's seed, his spiritual seed. Now
Abraham had a physical seed, that's the national Jews, but
he also had a spiritual seed. Listen to this in Galatians 3,
26. For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. That's Jew and Gentile. For as
many of you as have been baptized or placed into Christ have put
on Christ. In other words, if you're one
with Christ, chosen in Christ, If Christ died for you, was buried
and raised again the third day for you, then you put him on.
That is, at some point in time, you're gonna believe in him.
Verse 28, there is neither Jew nor Greek or Gentile. There's
neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus, and if you be Christ, if you
belong to Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according
to the promise. That's what they're called. And
another identification of them, Jew and Gentile, believers, sinners
saved by grace, justified by God based on the imputed righteousness
of Christ, they're called the Israel of God. Over in Galatians
chapter 6 and verse 14, Paul writes, God forbid that I should
glory or boast or have confidence save except in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and
I unto the world. I'm separated from the world.
I look at the world as being cursed but the world looks at
me as being cursed. Verse 15, for in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but
a new creation, a new creature. That's a sinner born of God.
who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, who's repented of their
dead works, who follows Him and walks in Him and abides in Him
by the grace of God. In verse 16 of Galatians 6, and
as many as walk according to this rule, this canon, this doctrine,
this truth, what rule? God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross. As many as walk according to
that rule, peace be on them, That is, they're at peace with
God and mercy. God's mercy is upon them and
upon the Israel of God. Who are the Israel of God, the
spiritual Israel of God? Those who walk according to that
rule. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross. In other words, you have no hope
of salvation. But that which comes to you by God's free sovereign
grace based upon the blood, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You sing that hymn that I like
so well. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Now those who have that testimony
given them by God's grace and the power of the Spirit through
Christ, that's the one body in Christ Jesus. That's the church.
You say, well I joined the church. Well, what church did you join?
Is it a church where they preach salvation by works or do they
preach salvation by grace? in Christ. Is it a church where
they preach salvation conditioned on the sinner? At some stage,
to some degree, in some way? Or is it a church that preaches
salvation conditioned all on Christ, who by Himself met and
fulfilled all those conditions? That's the one body in Christ
Jesus. I 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
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today and may the Lord be with you.