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. Today I'm going to be teaching
from the book of Ephesians chapter two. I've been teaching, preaching
through these verses in Ephesians chapter two, one of my favorite
chapters of the Bible concerning issues of the new birth, issues
of sin and righteousness and salvation. And today I'm going
to talk to you about the subject of quickened together with Christ. Quickened together. Now back
up in Ephesians chapter two and verse one, I'm not gonna go over
all these verses because I've already preached to you on them,
but I wanna just put things in their context. But the Apostle
Paul, as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit, he writes in Ephesians
two and verse one, and you hath he quickened who were dead in
trespasses and sins. Now, if you have an authorized
King James version of the Bible, you'll notice that the words
hath he quickened in verse one are in italics. And what that
usually means is that in the original ancient Greek manuscripts
of the New Testament, That phrase was not there, but it was supplied
by the King James translators. And most of the time, they did
a good job. The point that the translators
saw the apostle making here, and they're right, is that because
men and women are born dead, spiritually dead, by nature,
and let me say this, when I use that term by nature, What I'm
talking about is how we are naturally born in sin. The Bible teaches
that. We're not born innocent. Now,
I'm not going to get into all the things about infants today,
but here's the thing about it. We fell in Adam. The Bible teaches
that. By one man sin entered into the
world and death by sin and death passed upon all men for that
all have sinned or literally all sinned. Adam was the representative
and the federal head, if you were, that's what the old theologians
called it, the federal headship, representative of the whole human
race. He was the first man, Adam. God
created him, set him in the Garden of Eden, and God appointed him
to be the representative of you and me, of all of us, of all
of his posterity. And when Adam fell, we fell. And the proof of our fall in
Adam, that's some of the theologians talk about, ruined by the fall,
that's what it is. And so the proof that we're connected
with Adam in a fallen state is the fact that when we are born
naturally into this world, we're born absent of spiritual life. Now we have physical life. We
have body, soul, and spirit, but even our spirits are fallen.
That's our mind, our affections, our will, our heart. so that
we are actually born totally depraved. Now, when you hear
that term, total depravity or totally depraved, don't think
that that just describes raving lunatics or something or just
mass murderers. Total depravity is evidenced
by three things. Number one, we do not have righteousness. The righteousness, the goodness
that God requires. Romans 3.10, there's none righteous,
no not one. Secondly, it means that we cannot
work righteousness. No matter how good we try to
be, no matter how sincere, no matter how dedicated we try to
be, no matter how religious, moral, no matter how charitable
we try to be, we cannot do well enough to work out and make ourselves
righteous before God according to God's standard now. And understand
now, when you talk about sin and dead in sin, that's what
he says, you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. We're not talking about how we view each other. We're
not talking about this horizontal plane wherein we look at each
other and what we see. We're talking about how God sees
things. And God is holy and righteous
and just. He requires perfection. Somebody
says, well, that's unreasonable for God to require perfection.
No, it's not. And I'll tell you why. Because
God has provided the way of salvation for imperfect people. But we're
totally depraved by nature as we're naturally born. We don't
have righteousness and we can't work one. You say, well, I don't
believe we are unable to work one. Well, then you don't believe
salvation by grace. And we're going to talk about
that here in just a moment. The third thing about total depravity
that shows our oneness with Adam, our ruination in Adam, being
fallen in Ab, and our spiritual deadness is this. When the gospel,
the true gospel, is preached by nature, if left to ourselves,
we don't want it. We don't want righteousness God's
way. And the reason we do not want
righteousness God's way is because it leaves us no room to boast
in ourselves. That's why the most popular false
gospel today Yes, you know, God loves everybody. Christ died
for everybody. Now you just, you make the difference.
See, that leaves you room to brag, to boast, to glory in your
decision, in your choice. And that's not the gospel. That's
not the way the Bible sets it up. That's not God's purpose
or plan. So when he says in verse one,
and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins,
He's talking about the quickening of the new birth here. Now this
is why Christ said in John chapter 3, you must be born again. Literally born from above, born
of God. Or you cannot see, which means
to understand and know, savingly, the kingdom of God. Now, why
can't you see the kingdom of God until you're born again?
Because you don't have spiritual eyes. You understand that? You
need a new heart, a new spirit, spirit of life, not the spirit
of death. You need spiritual eyes, spiritual
ears to hear. Christ told his disciples, he
said, blessed are your eyes for they see. You see things that
others don't see. You hear things, blessed are
your ears for they hear. You hear things that others don't
hear. Why do you hear them and see them and others don't? Is
it because you were better than them? Is it because you had a
spark of goodness and you ran into a preacher who was eloquent
enough or charismatic enough to fan that flame and build it
into a fire? Is it because you rose above
the crowd of depraved, lost, fallen humanity and made your
decision for Christ? No, sir. Christ said this, No
man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw
him. How does the Father draw him?
By the power of the Holy Spirit in this quickening. And you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now in verses
2 and 3, he describes our conduct and our character
by nature, but he does it in terms that many people, when
you see it in this form, many people miss the point. Now I'm
not going to go over each of these terms because I've already
done that in the last messages. So you get those on CD or DVD. But he says wherein in time past
you walked according to the course of this world. Now understand
now he's talking about both the immoral world and the religious
world, false religion. He said according to the prince
of the power of the air, that's Satan. Satan's main goal is to
hide the gospel. Satan would rather have you in
a false church, hearing a false gospel, clinging to a false Christ
under a false refuge than anywhere else in this world. He says,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
that's unbelievers, among whom also we all had our conversation,
our walk, our conduct, in times past in the lust of our flesh,
that's unlawful desires, of the flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature, as we are
naturally born, the children of wrath, even as others. The
Bible teaches that before God ever created the world, in the
covenant of grace between the Father and the Son and the Spirit,
that God the Father chose a people to save. And he chose them in
Christ. Read Ephesians chapter one on
that subject. And there are other passages
too. He gave them to Christ. Christ was set up to be their
surety. Christ was set up to be their
substitute. All of their sins, which they
had not yet committed, had not even fallen in Adam yet, but
they would. All of their sins, the debt of
all their sins were imputed to Christ, charged to Christ. And
he agreed willingly, as he was the God appointed, able and willing,
surety and substitute, he agreed to come in time and to pay for
those sins and ensure their salvation by establishing righteousness
for them. Now that's what these verses that's coming up are gonna
talk about. But before we are quickened by
the Holy Spirit, before, as one theologian put it, one preacher
put it, before the resurrection life of Christ is imparted to
us in the new birth, we're no different than the children of
wrath, those who are born ruined, live a ruined life, a sinful
life, and die in their sins and perish. No different. So that there's no reason in
us. There's no merit, there's no
value or worth in us that would motivate God to choose or save
any of us. Now that's what he's going to
be talking about. Look at verse 4 of Ephesians 2. He says, but
God. There are several passages in
the scripture that say, but God. That means everything to a believer.
In other words, God is the only source and originator of my salvation. I'm not the source of it or the
originator of it. I'm not the cause of it. I'm
not the crux of it. It's all God. But God who is
rich in mercy. Salvation's a matter of mercy,
not merit. If I'm saved, it's the mercy
of God in Christ. There's another word for mercy
in the New Testament. that can be translated mercy
seat or propitiation. The publican in the parable of
the Pharisee and the publican in Luke chapter 18, beginning
at verse nine. Remember the Pharisee, Christ
spoke that parable to those who trusted in themselves that they
were righteous and despised others. And the Pharisee got up and he
said, I thank God I'm not like other men. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not this, that, or them.
I'm not like that old publican, a thief, and a robber, and a
traitor. And he said, I fast twice a week. I do this, I do
that. I say my prayers. And notice he thanked God for
those things. You know, he wasn't taking credit for those things
himself. But here's the point. God, listen, and let me put it
to you this way. I thank God for the things that
he's enabled me to do. But here's the point. The things
that God has enabled me to do by His grace and His power do
not make me righteous. There's only one thing that makes
me righteous and that's the death and the burial and the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His righteousness imputed, charged
to me. So the publican in that parable,
he comes up and he says his prayer. Be merciful. That word merciful
there means propitious. Remember propitiation? You heard
that term? It's used three or four times
in the New Testament and in other forms. It means a sin-bearing
sacrifice that brings satisfaction. In other words, God Be merciful,
be propitious to me, the sinner. I need a mercy seat. I need a
substitute. I need a sacrifice. I need a
surety. Where can I find one? There's
only one. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. So but God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us. Now he's not talking
about everybody without exception here, friend. Now listen to me. These preachers are too loose
with the love of God. And I don't say that to be mean
or unkind. It's just true. Here's what you
need to understand from the Bible. God is a loving God. Not only
is God a loving God, God is love. The scripture says that. First
John four. But his love is only directed
toward his people in Christ. Outside of Christ, there is no
love of God. There's only wrath and hatred.
Now, when you think about God hating, I know people don't like
to consider that today, but the Bible teaches it. You can't get
away from that. And the reason they don't like
to talk about God hating is because they equate, they compare God's
hatred to their own. Well, it's wrong and sinful and
selfish for me to hate anybody. And you too. And you want to
know why? Because number one, we're created
beings. And number two, we're sinful
beings. So whenever we hate, it's the
product of self-love, self-righteousness. It's the product of selfishness.
It's the product of sin. But when God hates, it's none
of those things. His hatred is nothing like ours.
His hatred is His justice against sin. That's God's hatred. It's His wrath. The Bible says
the wrath of God. It talks about children of wrath
here. There's no love in wrath. You understand that? So God's
love is shown in Christ and here's the proof of it. Look at verse
5 of Ephesians 2. Verse 5. Even when we were dead
in sins, now that means there's nothing in us, to merit or earn
or motivate God's love, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ. Quickened together with Christ.
By grace you are saved. Now he goes on in verse six,
listen to this. He says, and hath raised us up together. You notice that word together?
He says, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.
together, quickened together with Christ. Now, that word quickened
is used again. Back up in verse one, the translators
added that word quickened there. And that's not wrong. It wasn't
in the original, but what they were trying to do is say, this
is what he's teaching and it's true. The quickening in verse
one is the new birth. The new birth is the work of
the Holy Spirit applying the life of Christ the life that
He earned, Christ earned by His death through His righteousness,
the Holy Spirit comes as the result, the fruit, the effect
of Christ's death on the cross, His death, burial, and resurrection,
and applies powerfully, invincibly in the new birth, the life of
Christ to each and every one of God's chosen people in each
successive generation. And He does it under the preaching
of the gospel. He makes the gospel the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. And we're going to see that faith
is the gift of God through the power of the Spirit. So there's
the new birth. Well, every one of God's chosen
people are not born again together. For example, the apostle Paul,
or Saul of Tarsus, He was born again from above, quickened by
the Holy Spirit on the Damascus road. I wasn't quickened then,
I wasn't born again then, I was born again much later. So in
that sense, we can't say we were quickened together. But here
in verse five of Ephesians two, he's talking about when all the
collective body of Christ, all the elect of God, All the whole
true church of the living God, the sheep, the ones that were
given to Christ before the foundation of the world, they were all quickened
together with Christ. And look at verse five again.
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together, made
us alive together with Christ. And then he says, by grace, you
are saved. In other words, this quickening
here proves that salvation is not conditioned on sinners. Salvation is not earned or merited
or deserved by sinners. It's all placed upon, conditioned
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 6, here's the results.
He says, "...and hath raised us up together." That's from
death. and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. That's his ascension. What's
it talking about here? Well, it's talking about the
believer's oneness, the church's oneness with Christ. It's explained
over in the book of Romans chapter six. Let's go over there just
for a moment. In Romans chapter six, he's talking about the union
of Christ with his bride, the church. Christ is the representative
of his people. He's the surety of his people.
He's the substitute of his people. And that is so real. It's so
real that when Christ died on the cross, they died too in him,
not personally now, but in the person of Christ. And when he
was buried, They were buried too, not personally, but in the
person of Christ. And when He arose on the third
day, they arose too, again, not personally, but in the person
of Christ. And when He ascended unto the
Father and sat down at the right hand of the Father, they did
the same, not personally, but in the person of Christ. He's
our representative. He's our surety. He's our substitute. Now look at verse three of Romans
chapter six. Here it explains it. Know you
not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death. Now, the Bible teaches a lot
about believers baptism, the ordinance, but that's not what
this is talking about. The word baptized, people say, well, it
means immersed. Well, it does mean that. Literally,
the word means placed into. And what he's saying is here,
know you not that so many of us as were placed into Jesus
Christ were placed into his death. He died not as a private person.
He died as a substitute, as a representative, as a surety. Verse 4, therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death. that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life. So the death, burial,
and resurrection of Christ is the establishing, is the putting
away of all the sins of all His people. You see, the blood of
Jesus Christ cleanses me from all my sin. Nothing else will
cleanse us from sin. Making a decision will not cleanse
you. Walking an aisle will not cleanse you. Feeling sorry for
your sins will not cleanse. Should you feel sorry for your
sins? Well, sure, but that's not what cleanses you. Tears
of repentance and remorse will not cleanse you from sin. Water
baptism will not cleanse you from sin. No, sir. Trying to live a good life, giving
your tithes and your offering, they will not cleanse you from
sin. There's only one thing that'll cleanse a sinner. from all that
sinner's sins. That's the blood of Jesus Christ. And that's what he did on the
cross. He put away the sins of all his people. And what makes
you righteous before God? All those things that I mentioned
cannot and will not make you righteous. There's only one thing
that'll make a sinner righteous. The blood of Jesus Christ. His
obedience unto death. So we who are in Christ, evidenced
by being quickened by the Spirit in the new birth, we are one
with Christ in union with Him. We're one with Him by representation. He represented me. We're one
with Him by substitution. He stood in my place. We're one
with Him by amputation. The debt of my sins were charged
to Him. where one with him in his surety
ship, in his satisfaction, he paid my debt in full and put
away my sins. And I stand before God washed
in the blood of Christ and clothed in his righteousness imputed.
And look at verse six, go back to Ephesians two now. He did
all of this quickened together with Christ. That's my union
with Christ in his death, bearing resurrection. And as a result
of that, I'm born again. At some point in time, when it
pleases God, that's what Paul said in Galatians 1, when it
pleased God to reveal His Son in me. And he says in verse 7
of Ephesians 2, now all of this that we've been talking about,
this quickening together with Christ, which results in the
fruit, in the result of the new birth quickened in the Holy Spirit.
Here's the whole purpose of it all. Verse seven, that in the
ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. It's for his glory. It's for the preeminence of Christ. Book of Colossians chapter one,
read that sometime. We won't turn there, don't have
time. But the book of Colossians chapter one speaks of Christ
in the glory of his person, in the glory of his finished work,
in the glory of his mediatorial intercessory work. There's one
God. one mediator between God and
me, and it says this, that Christ has the preeminence, and that's
the glory of God. 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.