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. And if you'd like to
follow along in your Bibles for today's message, I'm continuing
to preach through the book of Ephesians, the New Testament
epistle of the Apostle Paul to the church at Ephesus, Ephesians
chapter two. And today's message is part two
of this message entitled, The Salvation of God's Church. Now I began that last week, so
I urge you to get that message too. But I've been preaching
through this whole chapter, and today I'm gonna finish it on
the salvation of God's church. And I wanna emphasize to you
exactly what the church is. And I mentioned this last week
how the church, the word church, it comes from the Greek word,
the New Testament Greek word, ecclesia. And it means called
out ones. And the church, the true church
of the living God, the church of Christ, not that denomination,
but I'm talking, don't think in terms of denominations here,
but think in terms of the true people of God, the true flock,
sheepfold of Christ, the family of God, the household of God.
The church is made up of individuals, sinners, saved by the grace of
God, through the blood, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
who have been quickened. That's what Paul started out
here, talking about the quickening. You hath he quickened. They've
been born again, that's what that means. Born again by the
Holy Spirit, Christ said you must be born again. and they've
been called by the gospel, the true gospel, not a false gospel,
not a perversion of the gospel, but they've been called into
the kingdom of God by the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first, to the Greek
also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. So the true
church, they've been called out. Now, the true church is made
up of those called out ones because they have been redeemed by the
blood of Christ. We talk about the three R's,
ruined by the fall, redeemed by the blood, and regenerated
by the Holy Spirit. Those three come together. If
you're a member of the true church of the living God, and don't
think in terms of denominations, and don't get, listen, listen
to me, and I'm not just being unkind here, or being judgmental,
I'm trying to stick with the word of God. People say, well,
I believe there's saved people in every denomination. Don't
think in terms of denomination. My friend, there's the true church
of the living God, and there are false churches. And a false
church, a false church is where a false gospel is preached. And
there is no salvation under the preaching of a false gospel.
Now that's just so. A corrupt tree, Matthew 7, cannot
produce good fruit. That's what that's talking about.
So understand that. And I mentioned this last week
about Satan sowing his tears. Those are false believers and
false churches. But the true church of the living
God, he says, look at Ephesians chapter two and verse 10. He
says, for we are his workmanship. The true church of the living
God is not their own work. Salvation is not by their works
or their will. They're the work of God, the
true church. And that's what he meant. By
grace are you saved, through faith, that not of yourselves,
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, for
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. The true church
is not its own creation. The true church is not, again,
by the power, the works, or the will of men. The true church
was created in Christ and by Christ and by what He did on
the cross. He redeemed His church. For whom
did Christ die on that cross? He died for His church. We read
it in Acts 20 and 28. He purchased the church with
His own blood. And He says, unto good works,
not because of good works, not based on good works, but unto. In other words, this salvation
has fruit and evidence and it's the good works. And I'll talk
about that in another message about what those good works are.
But he says, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. Now in beginning at verse 11 and to the end of this
chapter, the apostle Paul describes the makeup, the nature of the
true church. And he starts off, look at verse
11. He says, wherefore remember that you being in time past Gentiles
in the flesh, in other words, that's your physical state, I
was born a Gentile, and who are called uncircumcision by that
which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. What
he's talking about here is the natural, physical, ethnic, cultural
division divide difference that existed between Jew and Gentile. Why is that significant? Well,
because this was a church in Ephesus, a Gentile country, that
God had used Paul to plant this church and in this church There
were sinners saved by grace, both Jew and Gentile. Now, sometimes
in the New Testament you'll read about vast divisions even among
believers over this issue of being a Jew and being a Gentile.
You know, the unbelieving Jews basically boasted of three things. that they would say recommended
them unto God and made them children of God. They claim that, well,
we're natural children of Abraham. We're Abraham's seed. And you
Gentiles, you know, you're not physical descendants of Abraham. So in other words, they would
say if they were false believers, false professors of Christ, they
might look at a Gentile and say, well, you're a lower class Christian. You're not as saved, you're not
as close to God as I am. You're saved, but you're just
a lower tier Christian because you're a Gentile. The second
thing that the Jews boasted of as recommending them unto God
was their physical circumcision of the males. And that's why
they were known that way. They're called the circumcision.
The Gentiles were called the uncircumcision. And you might
notice in the historical passages of the book of Acts and then
in other places Paul had to deal with that because some of those
physical Jews who claimed to be Christian insisted that the
Gentile males in the church be circumcised. And Paul said, absolutely
not. That has nothing to do with salvation.
By grace are you saved. Through faith. And that not of
yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man
should boast. That's the kind of thinking that
we have today when people say, well, you can be saved if you
believe in Christ, but you have to do this, you have to be baptized,
or you have to do penance, or you have to go to confession,
or you have to do this or do that. That's man's way of salvation
and it's deadly. The third thing that the Jews
boasted of as to recommending them unto God, was they claimed
to keep the Law of Moses. Well, they didn't keep the Law
of Moses, and in order for them to claim to have kept it, they
had to lower the standard. That's why Christ taught in the
Sermon on the Mount what the Law really says. The Law reaches
the heart, the thoughts, the intents, the motives, not just
the actions. But you'll notice too that sometimes
in these churches false unbelieving Jews tried to bring the Gentile
believers under the law of Moses. And Paul said, absolutely not,
that's a denial of Christ. Read the book of Galatians, read
the book of Hebrews. But what Paul was saying here
in the salvation of God's church is that church is made up of
both Jew and Gentile and the distinction that exists between
Jew and Gentile means absolutely nothing in salvation. Look at verse 12. He's talking
to the Gentiles at Ephesus, the Gentile believers. He said, at
that time you were without Christ. Back under the Old Testament
There were many Gentile nations who never heard the gospel. They
never heard about the law of Moses. And he says, you were
without Christ. You see, that law of Moses was
given to expose the sins of the Jews. To show them their need
of Christ and the grace of God. And Christ and the grace of God
was pictured and typified in the ceremonial law. The law of
sacrifice, the altar, the tabernacle, the high priest. the priesthood. And so what he's simply saying
to these Gentiles is this, is that at that time you didn't
have the gospel. You were without Christ being
aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from
the covenants of promise, the promise given to Abraham which
is mainly fulfilled and directed to the Messiah, Christ who would
come. And then having no hope, my friend,
there's no hope for you or me or anybody without Christ and
without God in the world. That is in their minds, in their
state. But he says in verse 13, now
listen to this. But now, in Christ Jesus, you
who sometimes were far off, alienated from God, are made nigh, brought
near to God, Now how is it? Well, because you turned over
a new leaf? Or because you believed? No.
Made nigh by the blood of Christ. There's the key. There's where
grace resides. There's the ground of salvation.
Do you understand that? The ground of my salvation is
not my faith in Christ. I do have faith in Christ. That's
the gift of God. You know, I wouldn't have done
that on my own. I wouldn't believe on my own. My believing, listen,
my believing in Christ is a miracle of the grace and power of God.
It's not a testimony to my decision or my free will, as they say. It's not a testimony to the fact
that at a revival meeting I rose up above the rest of that bunch
who wouldn't believe and made the distinction myself. Faith
is a wonderful thing. Faith is a necessary thing. But
it's not the ground or the cause or the power of my salvation.
You know what is? The blood of Jesus Christ. What
can wash away my sins? Not my faith, but the one in
whom I have faith. His blood washes away all my
sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus. And His blood is the same
as His death, and that's the same as His righteousness. You
know, when the Bible says that the gospel is the revelation
of the righteousness of God, that's what it means. It's the
entire merit and value and worth of the obedience unto death of
the Lord Jesus Christ as my surety and my substitute. My sins were
charged to Him. The debt that I owed to God's
justice was put on His account and He paid it in full at the
cross by His death, His blood. And His righteousness is imputed,
charged, accounted to me. And as a result of that, according
to the grace and power of God, at some point in time, I was
quickened, I was born again. I was brought nigh by the blood
of Christ. And look at verse 14 of Ephesians
2. He says, for he, that is Christ, is our peace. Peace with God
by the cross. That's spoken of all through
the Bible. Colossians chapter one is a chapter
that deals with that. He is our peace. I hear people
say, well, you better go make your peace with God. My friend,
Christ already made peace for the church. You see that? And he did it by the blood of
his cross. And listen to this very carefully here. Verse 14. For he is our peace who hath
made both one. Now, who are the both there?
Jew and Gentile. And he's talking about believers
here now. He's talking about the elect of God, evidenced by
their belief in Christ. He's talking about the ones whom
Christ redeemed on the cross, the ones for whom He died, evidenced
by their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking about the
ones who have been quickened regenerated, born again by the
Spirit, evidenced by their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and
their repentance of dead works. And he'd made both one, whether
you're a Jew or Gentile, one, verse 14, and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us. He broke the middle,
that which divided Jew and Gentile is now broken down. Now most
historians, biblical historians, will tell you that that's a reference
to the temple that was present when the Lord came on the scene.
It was the temple that was built by Herod. And it was really a
remodeling and additions to the second temple that they had built
after they came back from the Babylonian captivity, the Temple
of Zerubbabel. And in that temple, there were
different courts. There was an outer court called
the court of the Gentiles. And if you were a Gentile convert
to Judaism, you go to that court and you couldn't go into the
inner court, which was for the Jews alone. So under that covenant,
under that temple, rather, there was a division. Well, in Christ,
based on His blood and righteousness, the division's gone. How did
it go? Verse 15, now look at it, Ephesians
2, 15. Having abolished in his flesh, that's the humanity of
Christ. That's referring to his death
on the cross. He abolished in his flesh the
enmity. That word enmity, it has to do
with a division, almost like hatred, like being enemies. and in his flesh he abolished
that enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances,
for to make in himself of twain," or of two, listen to this, one
new man, so making peace. Now he's talking about the church.
And in the church of the living God, the true church of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the church, the elect of God chosen before the
foundation of the world, whose names were written in the Lamb's
book of life before the world began, the ones whom Christ redeemed
on the cross, the ones who are born again by the Spirit, it's
one new person. That's what the church is. The
church is the bride of Christ. One new man. That's talking about
the church. Unified in Christ. And making
peace. So not only in Christ by His
blood is there peace between God and sinners, God and His
people. They're reconciled, you see,
based upon the imputed righteousness of Christ. In Christ there's
peace between the people of God. And he says in verse 16, and
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body, that's
the church. And how does he do it? Look at
it. By the cross, having slain the enmity, thereby or literally
in himself. That's what Christ, we are his
workmanship, see. That's talking about believers,
the church. And then verse 17, it says, and he came and preached
peace to you, which were far off and to them that were nigh.
In other words, this peace was preached, this gospel of peace,
peace based upon the blood of Christ, peace based upon the
cross of Christ, peace based upon his righteousness imputed,
which he alone established for his people on the cross. This
peace, this gospel of peace is to be preached to both Jew and
Gentile. Both Jew and Gentile. The gospel
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to
the Jew first. Now in the process of time, the
Jews had it first. That's true. Christ in his human
nature was a Jew. And he brought it to, you know,
he preached in that area. He talked about, you know, he
came to seek and to save the lost sheep. He came to seek the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. They were first, not because
they were better, not because they had goodness or power or
desired it. It was just God's sovereign choice,
that's it. But let me tell you something,
any Jew who's saved, saved by the grace of God, based on the
righteousness of Christ, Any Gentile who's saved, saved by
the grace of God, based on the righteousness of Christ. And
so he says in verse 18, for through him, through Christ, we both,
Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
The Holy Spirit, working in the Jews and the Gentiles, brings
them near to God as their Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the only way you're gonna come to God. You say, well, I'm
a physical Jew. I was born of Abraham. Doesn't
mean a thing. That's what I'm telling you. And he goes on,
he says in verse 19, now, therefore you are no more strangers and
foreigners. That's the Gentile believers.
You're not strangers, aliens, foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God. A saint is a sinner saved
by grace. Sanctified one, that's what that
means. Fellow citizen. In other words, a Gentile, believer,
sinner saved by the grace of God, has every right and title
to be a member of the household and family of God with the inheritance
as a Jew. The Jew is not above him. There's
no second tier Christians and third tier Christians. It's all
the same. Verse 20, he says, you're built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. It's all about Christ. That's
what the apostles preached. That's what the prophets preached.
Got the prophets, many of the prophets, it got them into trouble
whenever they prophesied of the coming salvation of Gentiles.
The unbelieving Jews wouldn't have it. And he says, and Christ
is the chief cornerstone. He's the foundation stone. He's
the one that holds it all together. And look at verse 21. He says,
in whom all the building fitly framed together. That means everything
in this building called the church, every member is put there by
God. and fits right in with where
God put us. And he says, together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord. As God brings his elect into
the church, his sheep, that's what he's doing. The church is
growing. And he says in verse 22, in whom
you also are builded together for inhabitation of God through
the Spirit. That is the manifestation of
God. in the gospel. Over in the book
of Galatians chapter 3, listen to this in verse 26, the Apostle writes, for you are
all, that is, all the elect of God, all the redeemed of the
Lord, all the regenerated, all believers, you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. And then he says, for as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
That baptism there is a union with Christ. Putting on Christ
means believing Him, pleading His blood and His righteousness
as my only hope and ground of salvation, my only entitlement
to heaven. And he says in verse 28, listen
to this, there's neither Jew nor Greek, Jew nor Gentile, there's
neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ,
then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
Who are the elect of God? The church. That's who the elect
of God are. It's not the physical nation
of Israel today. They were chosen for a purpose,
for a time, to be the instruments of God, to accomplish His purpose. And it was in spite of them,
because the majority of that nation rejected God and rejected
His truth. I thank God for them. If you're
a believer today, you should thank God for it, because it
was through them that salvation came, the Lord Jesus Christ.
But that's over, that's over. The true election of grace has
always been the church of the living God. The salvation of
God's church. And I know what some people say
today. They say, well, you're preaching replacement theology,
that the church replaced the Jews. No, I'm not. The church
did not replace the Jews. The church did not replace Israel.
The church has always been, always been the elect of God, even though
fallen in Adam, redeemed by the blood of Christ, regenerated
by the Spirit of God. That's always been the case.
Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, the true church, the bride of
Christ. That's always been. But the nation Israel, under
that old covenant for 1,500 years, they were types in picture. They
were a type in picture. of the church. Not in every way. No type is perfect. Because the
majority of that nation were unbelievers and rebels and idolaters.
Well, that's what even those who make up the true church of
Christ, by nature, that's what we were. Paul dealt with that
in Ephesians 2. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. You walked according to the course
of this world and the prince of the power of the air. We were,
I was born dead in sin. I'm a sinner saved by grace.
But the church today, the true church, is the fulfillment, not
the replacement, the fulfillment of what Israel typified as it
pertains to the gospel and the truth. You see, there's no replacement. The same kind of logic that people
use who call that replacement theology, Why don't they use
that when it comes to Christ? Think about this. Back in the
Old Testament, there were a lot of lambs slain, literal animal
lambs slain on Jewish altars. Well, Christ is the Lamb of God.
Did He replace them? No, He fulfilled them. And that's
what the church is in God's plan and purpose. 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 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 31707. 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.