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. Let me welcome you to our program
today. I'm glad you could join us and I hope you'll follow along
in your Bibles as I'll be preaching from the book of Ephesians, chapter
one, going through this chapter, Paul's epistle to the church
at Ephesus, Ephesians chapter one. And the title of today's
message is Accepted in the Beloved. accepted in the beloved and that
title is taken from verse six where we read about all of God's
purpose all of God's grace in the salvation of sinners is conditioned
on the Lord Jesus Christ who was set up before the foundation
of the world in what we call the everlasting covenant of grace
where God chose a people. I talked about that in the last
two messages. Chosen in Christ. That's God's
elect. Some people say, well, election
is just for the Jews. Oh, no. Election's for every
true believer because the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Peter
to command believers, not just Jewish believers, but Gentile
believers too, to give diligence to make their calling and their
election sure. who are the elect of God. They
are those who believe in, trust, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ
as he is identified and distinguished in the Bible, in the gospel of
salvation by God's grace. That's how you know you're one
of God's chosen people. Do you believe in salvation through
Christ? Do you believe in Christ? And
that's the gift of God. Here he speaks of how God predestinated
us, verse five of Ephesians one. He predestinated us, predestinated,
that's what it says. And I understand that there's
so many people today, they don't like that word, they don't like
that truth, but that's what the Bible teaches. That means predetermined. It does not mean that God looked
down through a telescope and foresaw the future. He's not
a crystal ball gazer. God is the determiner of all
things. And I know what people say against
that. You know, well, that's fatalism. Que sera, sera. No,
we don't live in that realm. God does. We live in this realm. And we have to work and operate,
make our choices in the realm in which we live. See, He's God,
and we're not. So don't try to play God. And
don't deny things you don't necessarily understand. Somebody told me
one time, said, well, I don't understand all the workings of
God. Well, join the club. All we can
do is go by what God tells us. It's just like a child who doesn't
understand all the workings and the choices and the operations
of his parents, a little child. He doesn't understand it yet.
He will later on, and maybe we'll understand more later on about
this, but right now, the children of God, he's the heavenly father. He's wise. He knows more than
I know. He knows more than you know. He knows what's best for
me better than I know it myself, just like us with our children. So don't fall into the modern
error, I said modern error, but it's been an error for a long
time, of denying the sovereignty of God. Because you can't necessarily
put all the puzzle pieces in place and make it reconcile with
the responsibility of men. God is sovereign, we're responsible,
that's it. That may seem like a paradox,
but it is a paradox to our minds. But God knows what he's doing.
Well, he says, verse five of Ephesians one, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. So now who's he talking about?
Having predestinated us. You know, I've heard people say,
well, predestination just applies to events, not people. Well, you better read your Bible.
It says, having predestinated us. That's people. And who are
the us there? It's not all without exception.
It's those who have been adopted into the family of God. All right? Sinners saved by grace. That's what that is. By nature,
we fell in Adam, ruined by the fall, and by nature, born dead
in trespasses and sin. By nature, children of the devil.
Even the best of us. Even those who are religious.
You see, you can be religious and moral and sincere and dedicated
here on this earth and still be an enemy of God because if
your religion is not the religion of God, the religion of Christ,
the religion of grace, the religion of righteousness which comes
by Jesus Christ, it's false religion. It's idolatry. Cain and Abel,
both were religious Both were bringing an offering. Both were
dedicated and sincere. But Cain brought the wrong offering. He brought an offering that represented
his self-righteousness, his works. See, if you believe that salvation
is conditioned on you in any way, to any degree, at any stage,
you're coming to God like Cain. And that's idolatry. But now
Abel brought what? The blood of the Lamb, which
typified, symbolized, foreshadowed the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation
by grace, based upon Christ's righteousness, imputed, charged,
accounted. And those who are adopted, those
who have been adopted, by the grace of God into the family
of God by God's electing grace, God's sovereign love in Christ. How do you know who they are?
They are those who seek the Lord in his word and by the power
of the Holy Spirit they're born again and they are brought to
faith in Christ. and repentance of themselves
and their dead works. Well, he says he's adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure
of his will. You see, this is not according
to your will or my will, it's according to God's will. Now,
where does our will come into play here? Well, by nature, If
left to ourselves, we will not choose God, the true and living
God. Now we'll choose an idol who's
like us. One who tells us what we want
to hear, one who builds us up and gives us room to glory. But
by nature, we will not choose God. We will not choose Christ. We will not choose God's way
of salvation. We want our own way. The way
that man by nature wants and chooses is a way that leaves
him room to glory, to boast. But the way of God leaves us
no room to glory or to boast. It brings us to boast, have confidence
totally in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he accomplished on Calvary's
cross to put away my sins. to make me righteous. Somebody
says, well, God gives everybody a choice. Well, let me give you
a, okay, let's go that far. But let me tell you what it's
like. It's kind of like this. If you took a wolf and you put
that wolf down in a plush green pasture, pasture full of lush
green grass, and you put a sheep down in front of the wolf. And you say, now wolf, I'm gonna
give you a choice. You can either eat the grass
or you can eat the sheep. Now he's got the choice, doesn't
he? He can either eat grass or he can eat sheep. Now what's
the wolf gonna do? Well, he's gonna do what wolves
by nature do. He's gonna eat the sheep. He
doesn't want the grass. The sheep will eat the grass.
But the wolf's gonna eat the sheep. And that's the way it
is with man by nature. If God gives me the choice, you
can choose his way or my own way. And what am I gonna do? Well, by nature, I'm a sinner.
There's none righteous, no not one. There's none that doeth
good, no not one. There's none that seeketh after God, no not
one. Christ said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me draw him. So if he leads me to
my own choice by nature as a sinner, dead in trespasses and sins,
ruined by the fall, I'm gonna choose my way. There is a way
that seems right unto a man. It's the way of death. It's the
broad road that leads to destruction. It's the way of work salvation
that leaves me room to glory. But what does God do to His people,
His adopted children? He sends the Spirit into their
hearts. He gives them life, and He changes
their will. That's what He does. You see
His sheep, they hear His voice, and they follow Him. He makes
them willing in the day of His power. So somebody told me one
time, said, well, you believe that God brings us to Christ
against our will. No, I don't. I believe He changes
our will. And it's called conviction. That's
what conviction is, by the Holy Spirit. So the adopted children
of God here, according to the good pleasure of His will. Now
here's verse six, this is the main text here, or verses six
and seven, actually. He says, to the praise of the
glory of His grace, there's the glory now. The glory's not in
my choice, or my will, or not in my decision, not in my works,
not in me at all. The glory is in His grace, unconditional
love, unconditional grace, unconditional salvation. See, I didn't earn
it, didn't deserve it, didn't do anything to get it, except
God worked on me. And it says, His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the beloved. Now the beloved there
is the Lord Jesus Christ. So as the first few verses of
Ephesians 1 was talking about the work of the Father in salvation,
in sovereign electing grace, choosing His people in Christ
according to the good pleasure of His will, adopting them in
Christ, verses 6 and 7 speaks of the work of the Son. Look
at verse 7. The beloved in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Now the forgiveness
of sins is brought about by the redemption that comes through
his blood, according to the riches of his grace. You see that? And look at verse eight, wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Wisdom
and logic You see, somebody says, well, the gospel is not logical.
Well, it is to God, but it's not to the natural man because
the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, unbelievers. But when God, the Holy Spirit
brings us to see our sins and to see the glory of God in Christ
and the glory of His grace, it's the only thing that really makes
sense. How? Think about it. What's the problem? God is righteous and we are not. And God must be righteous in
whatever He does. Whatever He does, He must be
just because He's God. That's His nature. God cannot
act against Himself, His own nature. He must act in strict
justice. And so the question comes, how
then Can a sinful man or woman who deserves justice in the punishment
of eternal damnation and death, how can such a sinner be justified
before God? How is that possible? And there's
no religion of man, no philosophy of man that has ever come up
with an answer to that question. In fact, if you want to be honest,
man has never even considered the question That's a question
that comes by revelation from God and the answer by revelation
from God. Well, how can that be possible? Well, Christ was
set up to be the surety of God's people before the foundation
of the world. He is our surety. Now what does
that mean? That means he became responsible
and accountable to pay the debt of sin which his people owed
to God's justice. And so, in order to pay that
debt, what did he have to do? Well, look, it says it in verse
6, or verse 7, in whom we have redemption through his blood.
He had to pay the redemption price, which is his blood. He bought His people by the price
of His blood. We're redeemed, as Peter said,
not with perishable things, corruptible things, but we're redeemed with
the precious blood of Christ. That's the people of God. Now,
if Christ redeemed His people, He will have them. He said all
that, John 6, 37. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. You know, the argument that says,
well, if I'm not one of God's elect, if I really seek him,
if I'm not one of his elect, he won't have me, that's not
true. And if you're not one of God's chosen people, you will
not seek Him, you will not desire Him as He is identified in the
Word. Anybody, everybody who seeks
Him according to His Word, now that's the key now, seek Him
according to His Word, will find Him. Again, it's John 6, 37. All that the Father giveth me,
when did the Father give them to him? Before the foundation
of the world, shall come to me, and him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. And then he goes on to say, and
this is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he
hath given me, I should lose nothing, no one, but raise him
up again at the last day. So you see, He redeemed them
with the price of His blood. Now, in shedding His blood, His
death, for the sins of His people charged to Him, and all of this
according to the riches of God's grace, Christ brought forth an
everlasting righteousness of infinite value. And in the Gospel,
it's called the righteousness of God. Paul wrote in Romans
1.16, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first, to the Greek or Gentile also. For therein, Romans
1.17, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. And that righteousness of God
is summarized all through the scripture. Even back in the Old
Testament, it's the righteousness of Christ imputed. Romans 10,
4 says, for Christ is the end, the fulfillment, the completion,
the perfection of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believeth. So that's what redemption through
His blood means. It means the price is paid. It
means justice of God is satisfied completely and now demands that
his people, his chosen people in Christ go free because they're
accepted in Christ. How can God, who is holy, who
is just and righteous, how can God accept me, a sinner? There's only one way, in the
Beloved, in Christ. Through His blood, His satisfaction,
it's called a propitiation, just as satisfied, you see, God looks
upon me in His Son. It's His righteousness imputed,
charged to me. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For
God made Him, Christ, to be sin, Christ who knew no sin, for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. So Christ was
made sin. What does that mean? That means
the sin debt of His people was charged to Him, accounted to
Him, reckoned to Him. And in order for him to pay the
debt that was charged to him, and he willingly took that upon
himself as our surety, in order for him to pay that debt, he
had to shed his blood. He had to become God-man, God
in human flesh without sin. That's why he had to come to,
that's why he had to be born of the virgin, conceived in the
womb of the virgin by the Holy Spirit without sin. Born of a
virgin, his holy humanity. united to his infinite deity,
God-man. And as God-man, he walked under
the law in perfection, keeping the law every jot and tittle,
he said. And when he came to that point
in his life here on earth, that he had to go to the cross, his
holy humanity, expressing itself suffering the infirmities of
the flesh the pain and the sorrow things that he had never things
that he had never experienced but those things which he learned
by experience because he suffered unto death to put away the sins
of his people his sheep that's what they're called in John 10
the Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep And then he talks
about how his sheep will hear his voice and they'll follow
him. You see, that's the new birth.
We'll talk more about that next time. But Christ, as the surety,
substituted himself for his people, suffered unto death, came under
the... Listen, the Bible says he suffered
the just, he the just, for the unjust, for his people, God's
elect, given him before the foundation of the world. And he went under
the wrath of God. This holy, harmless, undefiled,
sinless person went under the wrath of God. Well, how could
God be just and punish him? Well, it was based on the sins
of his people imputed to him. That's how God was just in doing
so. Sin deserves death. Christ was
made sin by imputation. Now, righteousness demands life. All for whom he died were made
the righteousness of God in him. And that's how they are accepted.
But you know something? That applies to everything about
us if we're in him. Not only is my person accepted
in the beloved, but my obedience, my prayers, for example, are
accepted before God, not because I'm a good prayer, not because
I pray often, not because I'm eloquent, not because I'm repetitive,
not because I'm sincere. My prayers are accepted before
God, by God, in the beloved. That's what the book of Hebrews
chapter four teaches about worship and about prayer. That it's all
accepted before God, not because of any merit that I have in my
prayers. Somebody said, oh, I wish I could
pray like so-and-so. Well, that's not the goal. But look at Hebrews four in verse
14. It says, seeing then that we
have a great high priest, that's Christ. Christ is the high priest
of His people. He's the representative. He's
the surety. He's the substitute. And it says,
seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into
the heavens, that is passed through to the heavens. What does that
mean? Well, he came to this earth, he kept the law for his people,
he suffered, bled and died, was buried and arose again and ascended
unto the father because he accomplished redemption through his blood.
He established righteousness for them. And it's Jesus, the
Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, our weaknesses. He was not a sinner. He was not
made a sinner, but he had a human body and the limitations of that
body and the infirmities and weaknesses of the flesh, but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. In his humanity, When Christ
did not eat, He got hungry, just like you and I. Now, it's not
a sin to be hungry. When Christ sorrowed, He wept.
He hurt, all of those things, just like we would do, except
there's a difference between us and Him. He did it without
sin. We don't do it without sin, we're
sinners, all right? So he says in verse 16, because
we have a high priest who accomplished this great work, verse 16, let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We come
to God in prayer, not because we've had a good day or we feel
good about ourselves or we've done something good. We come
to God in prayer through Christ and His merits alone, accepted
in the beloved, back here in Ephesians chapter one. And it's
all to the praise of the glory of God's grace. My whole existence
before God is a matter of mercy and grace and unconditional love
that can only be found and fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. the
beloved. God said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased, hear ye him. That's what it means. And it says, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, the
forgiveness of sins does not come to me by something that
I do. I heard a preacher say on television
one time, he said, what is the condition? that brings about
forgiveness. And he said, our repentance.
No. The only condition that God requires
for the forgiveness of sins is the blood of Jesus Christ. And
when the Holy Spirit brings a sinner to see that, then he will repent. That's right. That's what brings
about repentance. You see, don't get the cart before
the horse. If our forgiveness before God is conditioned on
what we do, then we won't be forgiven. And I know what Matthew
6 says about, you know, if we don't forgive, God will not forgive
us. That's not talking about a condition we meet in order
to earn or attain forgiveness. That's talking about an evidence
of having been forgiven. That's the issue. So he says
now, wherein, verse eight, Ephesians, wherein he hath abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prayer. This is the wisdom of God. This
is the logic of God, having made known unto us the mystery of
His will, His will and salvation, according to the good pleasure
which He hath purposed in Himself. It all starts with God. It all
continues with God. It all ends up ultimately to
the glory of God in Christ, accepted in the Beloved. 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
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.