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. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm preaching through the book of Ephesians
chapter 1. concerning this subject, chosen
in Christ. And that's taken from Ephesians
chapter one and verse four, chosen in Christ. Now I began this message
last week. This is the second part of this
particular aspect. And what we're talking about
is in Ephesians one, beginning at verse three and going through
verse 14, we have revealed by the Holy Spirit and as recorded
by the Apostle Paul, the work of the triune Godhead in the
salvation of a sinner. And that's the work of the Father,
the work of the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit. And
he begins here with the work of the Father. He says in verse
three, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. That's talking about God's people
now. because he identifies them in verse four, according as he
had chosen us in him. Now that's what the title is
based on, chosen in Christ. They are those who are blessed
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
are the chosen of God. And I know people make jokes
about that. They'll talk about the chosen few and all of that.
We talk about election. You know, people don't like to
hear that, or they'll say things like, well, the election is for
the Jews. Well, I'll point out to you that Paul is writing to
both Jew and Gentile here in the church at Ephesus. They were
believers, sinners saved by the grace of God, who had been brought
by the Holy Spirit in the new birth to believe in Christ and
to rest in Him. He speaks of it in verse one.
He calls them the saints. and the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now that's who he's talking about
here. This is who this is written to. It's believers. And what the Bible reveals about
believers, that if you're a believer, you have been chosen before the
foundation of the world in Christ by the grace of God. Now, a lot
of people will say this, and you have a lot of human, sinful,
human reasoning creeping in in religion today to try to explain
things because they don't like what the Bible says. And especially
about election. Somebody might ask, well, what
do you think about election? Well, the first thing I tell
them is, well, it's in the Bible. That's number one. And I told
you, I mentioned this last week, even the word predestination
is gonna come out here in verse, predestinated in verse five.
All of this that the Lord reveals, somebody called me and said,
well, I don't believe in predestination. And I said, well, do you believe
the Bible? And they said every word. And I said, well, predestination's
in the Bible, you don't believe that word. Well, what does it
mean? What is he talking about? And
I know these are high concepts, you know, that people just, we
say we can't wrap our mind around. But people say, well, what that
means is that God looked down through the telescope of time
and foresaw who would choose him. And therefore he chose them. Well, my friend, you're not gonna
find that in, you will not find anything like that in Genesis
to Revelation. First of all, that denies the
God of the Bible. That makes God a crystal ball
gazer, fortune teller. No, the Bible says that God has
predetermined all things. Now, I know that's a high concept.
And you say, well, that denies the responsibility of man. No,
it doesn't. And I can't explain that to you
and I'm not even gonna try, but I know it's true because the
Bible says it. I heard a preacher one time,
he talked about election. He said, well, here's the way
I look at it. Well, there's a problem right there. How you look at
it doesn't matter. What does God say about it? But
he said this, he said, God votes for you. Satan votes against
you. You cast the deciding vote. You're
not gonna find that from Genesis to Revelation. It's not there.
The Bible teaches that if God came down here, and spoke to
us as we are naturally born in sin and depravity and said, now
how many of you will choose me? He would get zero votes. Now
that's what the Bible teaches. Man by nature will not choose
God. Now, if we do choose God, the
God of the Bible that is, it's because God has changed our will. He has made us willing in the
day of his power, the scripture says. He given us a new heart.
eyes to see, ears to hear. And so that's the issue. But
look here in verse 4, he says, "...according as He hath chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy." That means separate. God's elect are separate. Well,
what separates them? The grace of God in Christ. What's
the evidence of their separation? They believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's talking about believers.
The Bible teaches that God brings his chosen people to see Christ
and to believe the gospel. Listen to what the Apostle wrote
in the book of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. What he's talking about here
is the second coming of Christ. and how before Christ comes again,
there'll be a great falling away of the church. Now, the falling
away is an apostasy that comes about through Satan's deception,
Satan being loose to deceive the whole world, and much false
Christianity will prevail. There'll be churches all over
the place that call themselves Christian, but they're Christian
in name only. They deny the truth of the gospel. And there'll be many false conversions. Many will leave the gospel. They
never were saved. And he says, it's because they
received not the love of the truth. But look at verse 13 of
2 Thessalonians 2. Now listen to this. He says,
but we are bound, 2 Thessalonians 2.13, but we are bound to give
thanks all way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now,
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth is speaking
of the new birth, conversion. by the Holy Spirit, you must
be born again. Verse 14, now look, where into
he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is the gospel? Well,
Paul wrote in Romans 1, 16, and 17, I'm not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God, the gospel of Christ. It is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first,
to the Greek also, or Gentile, for therein, verse 17, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written, the just, the justified shall live by faith. So the gospel
is the revelation of Jesus Christ in the glory of His person as
God in human flesh without sin and in the accomplishment of
His finished work as the surety and substitute of His people
to establish, to put away their sins by His death just to satisfy
and to work forth righteousness. by which they are justified before
holy God. Look back at Ephesians 1, 4.
He says that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. To be without blame is to be
justified. And that means we're not guilty. In other words, if I'm one of
God's chosen people, if I'm a sinner saved by grace, a saint, If I'm
one for whom Christ died, my sins are not charged to me. They've been charged to Christ.
They're not imputed to me. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. My sins
were charged to Him. The debt that I owe to God's
law and justice was put upon Christ my surety, and He came
in time, became incarnate, God in human flesh, walked this earth
in perfect obedience to the law, and obeyed it unto death, even
the death of the cross, shed His blood as the complete and
full payment for all my sins, and I have in return His righteousness
imputed, charged, accounted to me. Now how can I make that statement
and be sure that it's true? That Christ took my sins and
He gave me His righteousness. He tells us the evidence of that
is the new birth wherein God the Holy Spirit regenerates,
gives life to a dead sinner, eyes to see, ears to hear, a
new heart, new life, new spirit, by bringing them under the gospel,
this gospel message, and bringing them to faith in Christ, belief
of the truth, faith in Christ, and repentance of dead works.
That's why the Bible says give diligence to make your calling
an election sure. It doesn't say give diligence
to make your election sure. It says give diligence to make
your calling an election sure. Those who were chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world in Ephesians 1-4 are those
who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And they are separated
by God, and they are justified before Him in love. And where
is that love found? It's found in Christ, crucified
and risen from the dead. 1 John 4.10, herein is love. Not that we love God. God didn't
look down through a telescope of time and foresee who would
love Him. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He
loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation, a justice
satisfying substitute, sacrifice, righteousness, reconciliation. that gave him to be a propitiation
for our sins. And you know who he's applying
that to? Not to everybody without exception, but to those who love
God. And sinners by nature do not
love God, they love themselves, or a God like themselves. But
God the Holy Spirit, when he brings a sinner to believe in
Christ, he convinces that sinner of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment, He convicts our hearts to show us our sinfulness
and depravity, the impossibility of salvation based upon our best
efforts to keep the law, to do anything, and he drives us to
Christ in the love of God. And that's where he gives us
the gift of love, to love God. Now, verse 5 of Ephesians 1,
he says, having predestinated us, unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will."
There's predestination. That means to be destined before.
And somebody said, well, that just applies to adoption. No,
it applies to all the blessings of salvation which were in Christ. But adoption, God adopts us. You see, adoption is part of
this whole blessing and benefit of salvation. You can't segment
it out. You say, God adopted us legally
when Christ was made the surety of his people. And then at regeneration,
and then Christ died to pay the adoption price, that's redemption
by his blood on the cross, satisfying justice, bringing forth righteousness.
And then in regeneration, God brings his elect into his family
as adopted sons. Now are we the children of God,
the scripture says. We have the right to call him
Abba, Papa, Papa. And verse six says it's this,
or verse five says it's according to the good pleasure of his will.
Salvation's of the Lord, it's of his will, it's not of the
will of man. You see, John chapter one speaks of those who receive
Christ, they are born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh,
nor the will of man, but born of God. And it says in verse
six of Ephesians one, this is all to the praise of the glory
of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted, accepted with
God in the beloved. And the beloved there is Christ.
Now he's gonna make a transition here. From the work of God the
Father, the supreme sovereign in the Godhead, he's gonna make
a transition from the work of the Father to the work of the
Son. Now all of this is to the praise of the glory of his grace.
And that means this, that means it's all conditioned on the Father's
will and the work of Christ. It's not conditioned on you.
It's not conditioned on me. You see, grace is salvation,
conditioned on Christ, who, by His obedience unto death, fulfilled
all the conditions to ensure the salvation of all whom the
Father had given Him before the foundation of the world. John
6, 37. He says, all that the Father
giveth unto me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. You know, our people, they look
at election this way. They say, well, that means that if I want
to come to Christ, if I want salvation God's way, I may not
get it if I'm not one of his elect. No, that's not what the
scripture teaches. Anyone, now let me tell you this,
the Bible says any sinner who wants and desires salvation,
now underscore this, God's way, not your way, not my way, but
God's way, that is by his free sovereign grace in Christ Jesus
based upon Christ's righteousness imputed alone, any sinner who
desires salvation God's way will have it. And that's who God's
elect are. That's those who are chosen in
Him before the foundation. You say, well, the Bible says
whosoever. Whosoever what? Whosoever will. Well, taketh of the water of
life freely. But to take of the water of life
freely, first you have to be thirsty for that water. Man by nature is not thirsty
for that water. He thirsts after things. He thirsts
after self-righteous religion. He thirsts after false refuges,
but not after this. He has to be given that thirst.
Whosoever shall calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. My friend, I can tell you right now, if you truly,
in the power of the Spirit, call upon the name of the Lord, you
shall be saved. But man by nature will not call
upon the name of the Lord. His name there is that which
identifies and distinguishes him in the word of God. Who is
he? Who is Jesus Christ? He's God
in human flesh. He's the God man. What did he
accomplish when he died on that cross? Most people say, well,
he's trying to save everybody. That's not the Christ of the
Bible. That's not His name. His name is Jesus, which means
He shall save His people from their sins. His name is the Lord,
our righteousness. Righteousness demands life given
to His people. That's His name. Yeah, anyone
who calls, anybody who wants salvation, God's way. But this
is the God you have to deal with. You say, well, I don't believe
in that election. Well, that's the God of the Bible. And there's
no other way to look at it if you read the Bible. Now, you
go to some preacher and he'll deny it, and he'll say, oh, they're
just Calvinist. Well, my friend, this book here
is older than John Calvin. It's older than the Apostle Paul,
even when you talk about the Old Testament. Read the Bible. You see, don't get bogged down
in labels and misunderstandings and misrepresentations. Well,
look here in the work of the Son, verse six, to the praise
of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. Now that's the issue. How can
a sinner be accepted with God? And there's only one ground upon
which sinners can approach God and be accepted. And that is
here, it says in verse seven, in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace. Now, you remember back in the
Old Testament tabernacle, in the inner chamber, the holiest
of all, the holy of holies, there was the Ark of the Covenant. There was the mercy seat. And
the high priest of Israel was to go in one time a year with
the blood of a lamb that had been slain on the altar of sacrifice,
the brazen altar. Take that blood. The only basis
upon which he could go into the holiest of all and be accepted
was the blood sprinkled over the mercy seat. And that was
all a picture of Christ, the blood of the Lamb of God. And
His blood equals His righteousness. That's what righteousness is.
The gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of God.
What is that righteousness? It's perfect satisfaction to
God's law and justice. And where do you find that? In
the blood of Jesus Christ, in the death of Christ. Now, how
do we know that Christ was successful in what He did? Well, that's
where the resurrection of Christ comes in. Why is the resurrection
necessary? Why must we believe? Because
if Christ died only to stay dead, He did not conquer sin and death.
But if He arose from the dead, arose from the grave, that means
He conquered sin and death. Righteousness has been established.
The righteousness not of man, but of God, because Christ is
God in human flesh. And that's how God's people,
His elect, chosen in Him, are accepted in His sight. Accepted
in the Beloved. Accepted in Christ. And I don't
have any other ground of acceptance. God doesn't accept me because
of my obedience. Now God does accept my obedience
as it is presented to Him through Christ, the one mediator, the
intercessor, the advocate between God and sinners. In other words,
it's all washed in His blood. He's the only ground. His righteousness
alone. You see, my obedience doesn't
make me righteous. Christ does. God doesn't accept
me based upon the sincerity of anything I do, even my prayers.
My prayers are accepted with God not because of the perfection
of the prayer, not because of the sincerity of the prayer.
My prayers are accepted with God because I have a great high
priest who has passed through into the heavens, Jesus Christ
the Lord. It's His blood. It's His righteousness,
you see. And those who see that and know
that and believe that and trust Christ, they're the ones who
were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. They're
holy. That doesn't mean they're perfectly
pure in their character and conduct. No. Sinners saved by grace. But
they are separated from the world. Separated by God's grace. And
they are without blame. Again, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died, yea rather
is risen again and is seated at the right hand of the Father
ever living to make intercession for us. Who's the us there? Believers. That's the issue. And all of
this, he tells us in verse 8, is God abounding. Look, wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known unto us the mystery of his will, that's the gospel,
according to the good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. See, he didn't look down through
a telescope of time and purpose it in us who would believe. He purposed it in himself, verse
10, that in the dispensation and the fullness of the times,
that in God's appointed time, he might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on
earth, even in him. Verse 11 says, in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance. We didn't earn this, you see.
Believers don't earn salvation or its blessings. It's an inheritance
based on the death of Christ being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will. Works all things after the counsel
of His own will. There's a mind-boggling concept.
Verse 12, that we should be to the praise of His glory who first
trusted in Christ. Now, I'm gonna come back in the
next message and go over some of those things that I just read
because they are things that we need to consider. But all
of this, you see, you know, modern false Christianity centers around
man. In fact, it's really no more
than humanism. and it gives man the bragging rights. I'm saved
because I made the right decision. I'm saved because I did the right
thing. But the true gospel revolves
around God. Jesus Christ is the revelation
of God. The Bible tells us that in Him
This is Colossians 2 and verse 9. For in him, in Christ, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete
in him. That's believers. It says in
Hebrews 10 and verse 14, By one offering he, Christ, by his one
offering, hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, set
apart by God, by His one offering. It all revolves around Christ.
It's all about Christ. Somebody said, well, I want to
go to church where they meet my felt needs. My friend, by
nature, we don't even know what we need until God reveals it
to us. Through His word, we're sinners.
We cannot save ourselves by anything we do or anything we decide. It's all of God who works all
things after the counsel of His own will. And when you consider
that and you look at the Bible, you read the workings of God,
we see He does work in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. And we're just, we're down here
just groping in the dark until God opens our understanding to
the way of salvation. And still, we see so many things
that just boggle our minds, that just perplex us. But the Bible says we're not
in despair if we know Christ. If we see His glory, the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the light of the gospel, how
God saves sinners, Christ in the glory of His person, His
righteousness imputed, that's the issue. of 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
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at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 31707. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
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today and may the Lord be with you.