We are in the Season of Lent, when our minds are more focused than usual on the atoning work of Jesus Christ. I felt led to pore over Paul's letter to the Ephesians as a way to get even deeper into the mystery, now revealed, of the amazing way God in Christ made it possible for a person like me to enjoy the full benefits of the saving and keeping work of Jesus Christ.
Join me, if you wish, in pondering, word by word, phrase by phrase, the Word of God as revealed in Paul's writing.
Don Jacobs
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Ephesians, Chapter 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Paul. Greek name used as he ministered among Greeks. When ministering among the Jews, he was Saul of Tarsus. Paul is illustrating the parameters of the Kingdom of God that enables him to embrace all cultures for Christ Jesus, so that he might extend the Kingdom on the earth.
Apostle. “One of the Apostles.” He was not unique in that he was an Apostle. Furthermore, even though he was not a disciple of Jesus as were many others, he met Jesus Christ and was instructed by him in things pertaining to salvation.
Of Jesus Christ. The center of Paul’s affection, dedication and hope. Jesus is the human name, common among Jews at the time, actually, Joshua, and Christ, the one from God – come to earth. Paul deliberately reminds us of the dual nature of Jesus, the Christ of God, the Jesus of man. He is indeed God in the flesh. So are we, sons of man and sons of God, by adoption.
By the will of God. Paul did not choose to follow Jesus. He was chosen by God, it was God’s will, not Paul’s, Paul simply said, “Yes, Lord.” Those to whom Paul is writing have that same calling – all servants of the same mighty Lord Jesus.
To the Saints in Ephesus. All who are born again from above are “Saints.”
To the Faithful in Christ Jesus. Some are faithful, others have abandoned their faith. This letter is to those who have not abandoned their faith in the promises of God.
The Ephesian believers are both in Ephesus and in Christ.
Paul, in these couplets, is laying out the context of his letter. How do followers of Jesus Christ announce the dramatic coming of the Kingdom of God right there were they are? And how do they invite people into it?
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace to you. To receive grace is to know peace because when grace does its good work, because of the atoning work of Jesus, peace simply follows. There is no other foundation for peace except to fully receive the completed work of God’s grace in our hearts.
The source of grace and truth are, of course, God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As I unpack this I am impressed with Paul’s clear testimony. God is our Father, He is also Father of Jesus Christ. We are brothers with Christ, co-heirs in fact, of all the promises of God.
Lord – Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of lords. Paul can declare without doubt that God is the source of peace and grace.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Quote noted by Ted and Betty
I think you will be blessed and encouraged with this quote that Ted and Betty McJunkin lifted out. "We were so encouraged by these words from John Owen in his book Communion With God. What grace!!!"
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By the grace of sanctification, our natures are continually cleansed. We are naturally unclean and defiled, and that continually (Job 14:4; John 3:6). We are wholly defiled and polluted. The grace of sanctification, purchased by the blood of Christ, removes the defilement of our natures (1 Cor 6:11, Titus 3:3-5). By this cleansing, the soul is made fair and beautiful in the sight of God. Though the sin that defiles remains, yet its continual defilement is taken away.
By the grace of sanctification, all the pollutions of our actual transgressions are taken away. Every actual sin defiles. Our own clothes make us loathsome (Job 9:31). A spot, a stain, rust, wrinkle accompanies every sin. (I John 1:7). Besides the defilement of our natures which he purges, he takes away the defilement of our actual persons caused by our foolishness. “By one offering he perfected forever those that are sanctified.” By himself, he ‘purged our sins’ before he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high (Heb 1:3).
By the grace of sanctification, our best duties are cleansed from defilement. Even our very best duties are defiled (Isaiah 64:6). Self, unbelief and formalities insinuate themselves into all that we do. God has promised that the saints’ good works shall follow them. In fact, if our good works were tested and weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, it would be just as well if they were buried forever. But the Lord Christ, as our high priest, bears the iniquity and the guilt of our best works and washes away all their filth and defilement. He is like a refiner’s fire to purge both the sons of Levi and their offerings, adding sweet incense to them so that they may be accepted (Mal 3:3). Whatever is of the Spirit himself, or of grace, will remain. Whatever is of self, flesh and unbelief, that is wood, hay and stubble. These he burns up. The good works of the saints shall meet them one day with a changed face so that even they will not recognize them. That which seemed to the saints to be black, deformed and defiled shall appear beautiful and glorious. Saints shall not be afraid of their works, but rejoice in them.
This cleansing of our natures, persons and duties has its whole foundation in the death of Christ. So our washing and purifying, our cleansing and purging is brought about by his blood shed and sprinkled on us and our works. The sprinkling of the blood of Christ comes from the Holy Spirit whom Christ promised to us as purchased by him for us. The Holy Spirit is the pure water by which we are sprinkled from all our sins. The blood of Christ not only removes the defilement of sin, but also gives purity.
Actual ability to perform every spiritual duty is given to us. Without Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Believers continually depend on Christ for new influences of grace or for supplies of strength from the Spirit. For every new act, believers need new grace. Christ must work in us to will and to do for his good pleasure Phil 2:13).
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By the grace of sanctification, our natures are continually cleansed. We are naturally unclean and defiled, and that continually (Job 14:4; John 3:6). We are wholly defiled and polluted. The grace of sanctification, purchased by the blood of Christ, removes the defilement of our natures (1 Cor 6:11, Titus 3:3-5). By this cleansing, the soul is made fair and beautiful in the sight of God. Though the sin that defiles remains, yet its continual defilement is taken away.
By the grace of sanctification, all the pollutions of our actual transgressions are taken away. Every actual sin defiles. Our own clothes make us loathsome (Job 9:31). A spot, a stain, rust, wrinkle accompanies every sin. (I John 1:7). Besides the defilement of our natures which he purges, he takes away the defilement of our actual persons caused by our foolishness. “By one offering he perfected forever those that are sanctified.” By himself, he ‘purged our sins’ before he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high (Heb 1:3).
By the grace of sanctification, our best duties are cleansed from defilement. Even our very best duties are defiled (Isaiah 64:6). Self, unbelief and formalities insinuate themselves into all that we do. God has promised that the saints’ good works shall follow them. In fact, if our good works were tested and weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, it would be just as well if they were buried forever. But the Lord Christ, as our high priest, bears the iniquity and the guilt of our best works and washes away all their filth and defilement. He is like a refiner’s fire to purge both the sons of Levi and their offerings, adding sweet incense to them so that they may be accepted (Mal 3:3). Whatever is of the Spirit himself, or of grace, will remain. Whatever is of self, flesh and unbelief, that is wood, hay and stubble. These he burns up. The good works of the saints shall meet them one day with a changed face so that even they will not recognize them. That which seemed to the saints to be black, deformed and defiled shall appear beautiful and glorious. Saints shall not be afraid of their works, but rejoice in them.
This cleansing of our natures, persons and duties has its whole foundation in the death of Christ. So our washing and purifying, our cleansing and purging is brought about by his blood shed and sprinkled on us and our works. The sprinkling of the blood of Christ comes from the Holy Spirit whom Christ promised to us as purchased by him for us. The Holy Spirit is the pure water by which we are sprinkled from all our sins. The blood of Christ not only removes the defilement of sin, but also gives purity.
Actual ability to perform every spiritual duty is given to us. Without Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Believers continually depend on Christ for new influences of grace or for supplies of strength from the Spirit. For every new act, believers need new grace. Christ must work in us to will and to do for his good pleasure Phil 2:13).
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Another Wesley Hymn
When I open the John Wesley hymn book I find the same message time after time - a clear message of God's grace, poured out through Jesus. I detect a note of unworthiness yet a strong determination to get on walking with God.
Listen to the heart of John Wesley:
John Wesley
HYMN 339.
1 0 Thou, to whose all-searching sight
The darkness shineth as the light,
Search, prove my heart; it pants for thee;
O burst these bonds, and set it free!
2 Wash out its stains, refine its dross,
Nail my affections to the cross;
Hallow each thought; let all within
Be clean, as thou, my Lord, art clean!
3 If in this darksome wild I stray,
Be thou my Light, be thou my Way;
No foes, no violence I fear,
No fraud, while thou, my God, art near.
4 When rising floods my soul o'erflow,
When sinks my heart in waves of woe,
Jesus, thy timely aid impart,
And raise my head, and cheer my heart.
5 Saviour, where'er thy steps I see,
Dauntless, untired, I follow thee!
O let thy hand support me still,
And lead me to thy holy hill !
6 If rough and thorny be the way,
My strength proportion to my day;
Till toil, and grief, and pain shall cease,
Where all is calm, and joy, and peace.
Listen to the heart of John Wesley:
John Wesley
HYMN 339.
1 0 Thou, to whose all-searching sight
The darkness shineth as the light,
Search, prove my heart; it pants for thee;
O burst these bonds, and set it free!
2 Wash out its stains, refine its dross,
Nail my affections to the cross;
Hallow each thought; let all within
Be clean, as thou, my Lord, art clean!
3 If in this darksome wild I stray,
Be thou my Light, be thou my Way;
No foes, no violence I fear,
No fraud, while thou, my God, art near.
4 When rising floods my soul o'erflow,
When sinks my heart in waves of woe,
Jesus, thy timely aid impart,
And raise my head, and cheer my heart.
5 Saviour, where'er thy steps I see,
Dauntless, untired, I follow thee!
O let thy hand support me still,
And lead me to thy holy hill !
6 If rough and thorny be the way,
My strength proportion to my day;
Till toil, and grief, and pain shall cease,
Where all is calm, and joy, and peace.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The Theologian's Danger
C. S. Lewis has a way of blowing all cover - to reveal the truth. I had to think a while when I read his Jan. 18 thought.
The Theologian's Danger
There have been men ... who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself ... as if the good Lord had nothing to do
but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ. Man! Ye see it in smaller matters. Did ye never
know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them? Or an organizer of charities that had lost all love for the poor? It is the subtlest of all snares.
The Theologian's Danger
There have been men ... who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself ... as if the good Lord had nothing to do
but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ. Man! Ye see it in smaller matters. Did ye never
know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them? Or an organizer of charities that had lost all love for the poor? It is the subtlest of all snares.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Think about it for a bit! A good Advent reality.
I love this CS Lewis thought. I think you will, too.
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Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.
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Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.
Friday, September 10, 2010
What Kind of Kingdom is this?
Luke was a Gentile in love with Jesus Christ. With that in mind I am rereading his Gospel. What drew his attention? What excited him so much about his Jesus?
As I read I saw he used the phrase, "The Kingdom of God," more than forty times! Luke also saw the believers as children of their Heavenly Father, a family of love and unity. But he was intrigued by the center phrase of Jesus' prayer, "Thy kingdom come on earth as in heaven."
I began to ponder this Kingdom. It take some doing to think of a world-view that defines a kingdom as having no borders, no common culture, no army, no Parliament, no courts, no common language or culture, no man-made Constitution, no book on parliamentary procedures, a kingdom in which the greater serve the least, in which enemies are loved, not destroyed, where forgiveness, humility and heart-felt love are the prime virtues and where faith in the Lord Jesus Christ make all things possible.
This is a strange kingdom where the King, instead of asking his subjects to die for him, leaves his throne and dies himself, on the Cross, so that they can be near him now and forever. Our King wears a crown of thorns. He reigns in grace and truth.
This morning I see in my mind's eye this amazing Kingdom spread across our planet. I have had the privilege of getting to know brothers and sisters in more cultures than I can count. They have the same stamp on them, they are citizens of the Kingdom of God, as I, by grace, am. That is our nation. That is our "land." That is the most dramatic display of God's grace imaginable - a new thing that spreads and flourishes by the power of the Holy Spirit alone.
Thank you, Dr. Luke, for introducing us to the essence of Jesus' Kingdom that continues to amaze and thrill.
As I read I saw he used the phrase, "The Kingdom of God," more than forty times! Luke also saw the believers as children of their Heavenly Father, a family of love and unity. But he was intrigued by the center phrase of Jesus' prayer, "Thy kingdom come on earth as in heaven."
I began to ponder this Kingdom. It take some doing to think of a world-view that defines a kingdom as having no borders, no common culture, no army, no Parliament, no courts, no common language or culture, no man-made Constitution, no book on parliamentary procedures, a kingdom in which the greater serve the least, in which enemies are loved, not destroyed, where forgiveness, humility and heart-felt love are the prime virtues and where faith in the Lord Jesus Christ make all things possible.
This is a strange kingdom where the King, instead of asking his subjects to die for him, leaves his throne and dies himself, on the Cross, so that they can be near him now and forever. Our King wears a crown of thorns. He reigns in grace and truth.
This morning I see in my mind's eye this amazing Kingdom spread across our planet. I have had the privilege of getting to know brothers and sisters in more cultures than I can count. They have the same stamp on them, they are citizens of the Kingdom of God, as I, by grace, am. That is our nation. That is our "land." That is the most dramatic display of God's grace imaginable - a new thing that spreads and flourishes by the power of the Holy Spirit alone.
Thank you, Dr. Luke, for introducing us to the essence of Jesus' Kingdom that continues to amaze and thrill.
Monday, August 23, 2010
God's marvelous power to deliver, often unseen
I enjoy reading Wesley's beautiful hymns. This morning he impressed me to praise God for his delivering power. As I look back over my life, and even today, I realize that the Lord sees where I am and keeps me, in my weakness, from falling. I find this refreshing and an insight into how His marvelous grace works.
Here are two verses from a 4 verse hymn.
Hymn 238
3
By our bosom-foe beset,
Taken in the fowler's net,
Passion's unresisting prey,
Oft within the toils we lay:
Sleeping on the brink of sin,
Tophet gaped to take us in;
Mercy to our rescue flew,
Broke the snare, and brought us through.
4
Here, as in the lion's den,
Undevoured we still remain;
Pass secure the watery flood,
Hanging on the arm of God:
Here we raise our voices higher,
Shout in the refiner's fire;
Clap our hands amidst the flame,
Glory give to Jesu's name.
(I understand that Tophet was a place near Jerusalem where refuge burned.)
Here are two verses from a 4 verse hymn.
Hymn 238
3
By our bosom-foe beset,
Taken in the fowler's net,
Passion's unresisting prey,
Oft within the toils we lay:
Sleeping on the brink of sin,
Tophet gaped to take us in;
Mercy to our rescue flew,
Broke the snare, and brought us through.
4
Here, as in the lion's den,
Undevoured we still remain;
Pass secure the watery flood,
Hanging on the arm of God:
Here we raise our voices higher,
Shout in the refiner's fire;
Clap our hands amidst the flame,
Glory give to Jesu's name.
(I understand that Tophet was a place near Jerusalem where refuge burned.)
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