2019-11-27 | Ephesians 1:1-11 | Having Predestinated Unto Us
Alright well we’re there in Ephesians chapter number one and we are starting a brand-new book of the Bible. I’m always excited when we start a new book of the Bible and begin to work through it. And I love Wednesday night services because we get to just go verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and try to learn the Bible together and learn the Word of God together. And we can just take our time and learn in a study. And I would encourage you since you’re here on the first Wednesday night of Ephesians to just make a commitment to be here for everyone. We’re starting here in Ephesians chapter number one. And just by way of introduction, let me explain something. Because the last time we were in a book of the Bible studying it together, we were in Ezekiel. And it was kind of a different beast. And it’s a very complicated book. We’re going to do Ephesians differently. With Ezekiel we went one chapter a week. There’s 48 chapters and we’re just hitting it hard and trying to get through it. With Ephesians, we’re going to take our time. And we’re not going to spend more time than we need to but we’re going to go ahead and break it down a little bit and try to help you understand it.
And what you need to understand about the letters of the Apostle Paul and the epistles the Apostle Paul wrote is that his letters are generally written in two parts. You’ll find this this is true in his letters to the Romans, Galatians, Ephesians. Generally they are written in two parts. In the first part of the book, it will be heavy on theology. And if you think about the work of Romans, you get up to like the first nine chapters and there’s just a lot of doctrine. And Ephesians is like that as well. The first part of it is going to be heavy on theology. There’s a lot of deep thoughts. Paul’s a very deep thinker. So we’re going to take our time and kind of try to help you understand what he’s talking about. And then the second part of the book is usually heavy on application. You find that with Romans. You find that with Ephesians. You find that with a lot of his books. In Ephesians, towards the end of chapter, we’re talking about marriage and we’re talking about child-rearing. He’s talking about spiritual warfare and he’s giving you a lot of practical applications and things like that. So we’re going to dig into this. And just kind of realize that at the beginning there’s going to be some thoughts here and some ideas and we’ll just walk through as many verses and chapters as we are able to get through tonight. We’ll probably get through about half of it tonight.
Look at Ephesians 1:1. I want you to notice first of all, the introduction. It says, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,”. And I want to just begin by explaining why it is that Paul seems like he’s always using this type of greeting. Or often he’s using this greeting where he makes sure to show himself as an apostle or to show the fact that he is an Apostle. And he always talks about the fact that he’s an apostle by the will of God or not by the will of man. Look at 1 Corinthians 9:1. The Bible says this “Am I am not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? 2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.”. And then he says this in verse 3 “3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,”. And then he goes on to give some arguments. But I want you to notice that the Apostle Paul had this thing in his ministry where his Apostleship was constantly being questioned. This is because of the fact that he came late to the game. If you remember, Jesus had already ascended when the Apostle Paul was called into ministry. In fact, Jesus appeared to him on the road of Damascus but he was not with the other apostles at the baptism of John. He was not with them during the actual ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because of that, some people attacked Paul and would attack by questioning his Apostleship. And that’s why he’s using these terminologies defending himself.
So he says, “Am I am not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? 2 If I be not an apostle unto others,”. He says if other people don’t want to acknowledge me as an apostle. “yet doubtless I am to you:”. And of course he’s saying that to the church at Corinth because he started the church there. He says “for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.”. And then he says “3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,”. And the point is this, that people were examining him, they were questioning him, they were attacking his credentials if you will. So you’ll notice that the Apostle Paul begins his letters by always defending his Apostleship. We saw it there in Ephesians 1. He said “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,”. Notice in 1 Corinthians 1:1 “Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God,”. So notice he says I was called to be an apostle through the will of God. It’s just kind of an interesting thing. And I want you to understand this, as you study the Bible and as you learn the Bible, this is why you see Paul using these terminologies, because his Apostleship was often under attack.
Romans 1:1 Paul says “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,”. In 2 Corinthians 1:1 he says “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,”. In 2 Corinthians 12:12 he says “12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you.”. In Galatians 1 1 he says “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father,”. In Colossians 1:1 he says “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,”. 1 Timothy 1:1 he says “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ,”. 2 Timothy 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,”. So you may notice that as you read the epistles of the Apostle Paul. Where he will introduce himself and then he’ll give some sort of a justification for why he’s referring to himself as an apostle, by the will of God, by the commandment of God, not of men neither by man. And the reason for that is because his Apostleship was questioned, it was under attack.
Ephesians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,” And then he says “to the saints”. And I’m just pointing this out for you just kind of by way of introduction. We’re going to get into the text here in a minute. But I want you to notice that he says “to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:”. So he’s writing to this church at Ephesus these are believers, these are Christians. But he calls them the Saints. He says to the Saints which are at Ephesus. And if you would, go back to 1st Corinthians 1:2. And here’s why I want to show you this. It is because today there’s a belief system out there, a doctrine out there, that is put out by the Roman Catholic Church. But they’re even so-called Christians who believe this now. And they’ll say that a saint is like a special Christian. It’s a Christian that you know endured to the end and they live the faithful life and they did all these things and then there they’re like a special Christian. They are better than everybody else. And we can put their picture on a candle and we can light the candle and we can pray to them. But this is not what the Bible teaches. And here’s what you need to understand. As Bible believing Christians and as Baptists, we must allow the Bible to be our authority in all matters of faith and practice. So when a question is asked, what’s a saint? You may think, well what’s the big deal? Who cares what a saint is? But we need to ask this question, what does the Bible say a saint is.
And here in Ephesians you have Paul writing a letter to the church at Ephesus. And he says “to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:”. Now what is a saint? Well, turn to 1 Corinthians 1:2. We already saw Paul giving his introduction and defending his Apostleship. Then in verse 2 he says, “2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth,”. So notice, he’s writing to a local congregation in Corinth, the Corinthians Church. He says “to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus,” Notice what he says “called to be saints,”. So he says, I’m writing to those that are sanctified in Christ, Jesus those that are of the Church of God which is at Corinth. They’re called to be Saints and he’s talking about Saints in Corinth. Just like he was talking about Saints in Ephesus. But then he says this
“with all that”. So he says there are Saints in Corinth and they’re called to be Saints. And he says they’re not just only called to be Saints, they’re called to be Saints “with all that” or alongside all that, alongside everyone else. That notice “with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their’s and our’s:”.
So according to 1st Corinthians 1:2, what is a saint? Or how does somebody become a saint? And the Bible says that they’re called to be Saints with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ. So according to this verse, anyone who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ is a saint. Anyone who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ is considered a saint or called to be a saint. Now why is that important? Go to Romans chapter number 10. And here’s why this is important, because of the fact that the way you get saved is by calling upon the name of the Lord.
Romans 10:13 says this “13 For whosoever” This means anybody. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”. And of course we understand that with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. With the heart you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you believe on him, you have faith in him. And then in faith you call upon him to save you. But here it says “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”. So here’s what I’m explaining to you. The bible does not teach that a saint is just some special guy, some special lady, who did great things and now we can pray to them, and now we can hold them in admiration. The Bible teaches that anybody who calls upon the Lord is a saint. So who are the Saints? It’s all believers. If I wrote a church or a letter to Verity Baptist Church, I could say to all the saints that are in Sacramento, California that are in Verity Baptist Church. Because this room is filled with a bunch of saints. If you’ve called upon Christ to save you, you are a saint.
Let me prove it to you even further. Go back to 1st Corinthians chapter 6. You’re there in Romans, just go back to 1st Corinthians if you would. 1st Corinthians chapter 6 and let me prove to you even further that a saint is not someone who is like a special type of Christian. In fact, Paul says that even the least are saints. 1st Corinthians 6:1, notice what the Bible says “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?”. Now understand that the main context of this passage is that Paul is rebuking the fact that there are Christians that are taking each other to court. And they are literally suing each other and going to court. But notice what he says, “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust,”. He says you’re going to law before the unsaved “and not before the Saints?”.
So notice that he was fully expecting that they should be able to take their problems to the Saints. Verse 2, “2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?”. He says why aren’t you going to the saints. Don’t you know that the saints are going to judge the world. “and if the world shall be judged” Notice what he says “by you,”. Now hold on Paul. You just said that the world’s going to be judged by the Saints. Now you’re telling me that the world’s going to be judged by them? Why are you saying that? Because they are the Saints. Because the Saints are anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord. He says “and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?”. “3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.”.
He’s saying look, you would be better off setting the least esteemed, the newest Christian, the most novice Christian, the guy who knows the least about the Bible, you’d be better off putting the least esteemed in the church to judge over you then going to some unjust judge, then going to some unsaved judge. He said it would be better to put the least esteemed in the church. But he’s saying, because you should go to the Saints. And he’s really saying even the least esteemed is the saint. So look, the Catholic teaching of Saint ship and the fact that you know they’ll have some Pope or they’ll have some nun or whatever who they think is some great Christians, is false. According to the Bible, we’re all Saints if we call upon Jesus in faith. If we’re saved, we are Saints. And you say, well year but we’re not very saintly. You’re right. But here’s the thing, you don’t get saved based on the way you live your life. And actually it’s important to the aspect of what the Apostle Paul is going to develop here in this passage. So I want you to understand that in the eyes of the Lord, our position is a position of saints. Go back to Ephesians 1.
That was all by way of introduction. Let me get into the 2 main points. Like I said, we’re only going to go halfway through the chapter tonight. We’ll get up to verse 11 and then we’ll do the rest of the chapter next week. But I want you to notice that the Apostle Paul develops three different ideas. He develops the position of the Father. He develops the performance of the Son. And he develops the purpose of the Spirit. Tonight we’re going to get through the first two. The position of the father and the performance of the Son. But I want you to notice what he says in verse two. And we’re just going to walk through these verses and I’ll try to help you understand them.
Verse 2, “2 Grace be to you, and peace,”. Now notice what he says “from God our Father,”. And if you don’t mind underlining or writing in your Bible, I would underline that word “our Father” or circle that word “our Father”. He says “2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”. Then he says this, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”. So notice that he says God is our Father and then he says “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”. Let me just say this, God is not only our God but he is also our Father. When we got saved, we entered into this relationship with God where we were adopted into the family of God. And now we can cry Abba Father. We can call him father. We can go to him as father God. He is not only our God but he is our Father. But God is also the God and father of Jesus as well. That’s what we just read in Ephesians 1 verses 2 and 3. He says “from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ”. He says “blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. So God is our God and He is our Father and then he is also the God of Jesus and the father of Jesus. Because he says in Ephesians 1:3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”.
So please understand this, Jesus has a God and it’s God the Father. God the Father is the God of Jesus. And I want you to understand this, even though Jesus is God, in the Bible you find this concept throughout the Bible where the father is referred to as God and then Jesus is referred to as God and Jesus is even referred to as God by the Father. Now we just saw in Ephesians 1:3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”. Let me show you where God refers to the Son as God. Hebrews 1:1, are you there? Notice what the Bible says “God,”. Let me just say this and it will become clear in a minute, whenever the Bible refers to just God in general, usually you you’re safe to assume that it’s referring to God the Father or the first person of the Godhead. He says “God, who at sundry times”. The word sundry just means in different types of ways. He says “at sundry times and in divers manners”. Divers manners means in different times. It’s just two different ways of saying the same thing. He says “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake” Now who spake? God spake. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,”. This is talking about inspiration. We talked about that on Sunday night.
Notice verse 2 “2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,” By whose son? God’s Son. Do you understand what I’m saying? So when you read God, it’s God the Father. And generally speaking when we talk about God in the Bible, we’re talking about the person of God the Father. The first person of the Godhead. That’s not all the time but generally speaking you’ll find that to be true. Notice what he says. “2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he” God. “hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”. And I want you to notice the whom there is referring to the Son. Because it’s the father, he’s doing it by whom? “also he”. Who’s the he? God made the world. So, the Father made the world through his Son. And we have both members of the Godhead, and actually we have all three members of the Godhead in the creation story and in the creation account. So I want you to notice the context is God who spake in times past by the fathers. “2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”. Notice verse 8. Skip down to verse 8.
Hebrews 1:8 “8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”. You say wait a minute. We just read in Ephesians 2 that God, God our Father, God the Father, he’s our Father and He is God the Father of Jesus Christ as well. But here we have God the Father, we know it’s God the Father because it’s a God who spoke to us by his Son. God is referring to his Son as God. You say what is this? Here’s what it is, it’s the Trinity. It is the fact that the Bible teaches that there is one God. You say do you believe in multiple God? No, there’s one God. One God exists in three persons. And that is the belief of the Trinity. The fact that there are three persons in the Godhead who are the Godhead. It’s one God in three persons. And this is why the Bible refers to the father as God, refers to the son as God, refers to the Holy Spirit as God. Because there’s one God that exists in three persons.
So, we begin by looking at this position of the Father. The position of the Father is this, that he is God and he is God our Father. But he’s also the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because here’s what you need to understand. And go back to Ephesians. There is an order in the Godhead. There is a ranking system. And that’s why we refer to God the Father as the first person of the Godhead. And he outranks the Lord Jesus Christ who is just as much God. So, this is why the Bible says that he is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we saw in Hebrews where God the Father refers to the Son as God. He says “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”.
So, I want you to notice first of all the position of the father. But I’d like you to notice secondly the performance of Jesus Christ. And the Apostle Paul, this is what he really begins to develop. It is what it is that the Son does for us to bring us or reconcile us to his Father. Ephesians 1 look at verse 4. “4 According as he hath chosen us”. A lot of Ephesians deals with the idea of being elect, predestinated, chosen. And Calvinists, they love these chapters because they talk about predestination and ordination. And we’ve been ordained. So I want to really take the time to develop this and break this down so we can understand what it is that the Apostle Paul is teaching. Notice what he says in verse 4 “4 According as he hath chosen us” But I want you to notice these words. “in him”. In who? In Christ. In Jesus. Notice “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”.”. Notice verse 5 “5 Having predestinated” The word predestinate means to foreordain or predetermine. Notice. “us unto the adoption of children”.
So he pre-ordained, he predestinated, he foreordained, us unto the adoption of children. Notice, “by Jesus Christ”. So how did we become adopted into the household of God? By Jesus Christ he ordained us, he adopted us by Jesus Christ. “to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”. Notice verse 6 “6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”. So we became accepted in the household of God. We became accepted in the beloved of God. You say well what is this teaching? What the Bible is teaching is that predestination or the doctrine of predestination in the Bible is that God pre-chose to adopt anyone who’s in Christ, before the foundation of the world. See, we don’t believe in a God, the God of the dispensationalists. The God of the dispensationalists, he doesn’t know what’s going on. He has no clue. He tries one thing and that failed. So he tries a new dispensation and that fails. He tries another dispensation and that fails.
What the Bible says is that God knows the beginning from the end. God already knew Adam was going to fall before he created Adam. God already knew Eve was going to sin before she was created. God already knew how it was all going to play out. And look, in his love he still chose to create us. Here’s what God chose, he chose us in him, he chose us in Christ. He said anyone who’s in Christ, I have chosen, I preordained, I foreordained, I pre-determined that they will be adopted into the household of God. And they will be accepted in the beloved. Now here’s what Calvinists teach. They teach that predestination is that some people can’t get saved. They teach that God chose some people and God did not choose other people. That God predestinated some people to be saved and he did not predestinate others to be saved. Calvinists basically teach that everyone is a reprobate, rejected and without hope of salvation, unless God chooses to undo them. Here’s a problem with that, we just read that God says anyone who’s in Christ I’ve chosen. Anyone who’s in Christ I’ve adopted. Anyone who’s in Christ.
So here’s the question, who can be in Christ? Well how about this, why don’t we ask Christ? Go to John 12:32. And there’s a lot of verses to prove this. I realize that maybe it’s a little deeper tonight or maybe not as dynamic. But it’s Bible study number 1 and we need to not be carried about with every wind of doctrine. We need to know what we believe and why we believe it. Because here’s what we just read in Ephesians, God said I predestinated, I chose, I preordained. And Calvinists just love that. “Oh yeah, I was predestinated and you weren’t. I’m good and you’re not. I’m great and he loves me. He doesn’t love you.”. But here’s what he says if you look at it. He says God said I predestinated, I pre-chose anyone in Christ. And then these which Christ says in John 12:32 “32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,”. Now notice that he’s referring to his death. Look at verse 33, “33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.”. Because of the fact that he’s going to get nailed on a cross and he’s going to be lifted up from the earth.
Here’s what he says “32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”. So here’s what God the Father says. God the Father says anyone who’s in Christ, anyone who’s in Christ, I will pre- ordain. Write the check, I will already sign the contract, I will already make the deal. If you’re in Christ, I will adopt you and I will make you accepted in the beloved. And then Jesus says hey, if I get lifted up, I’ll draw all men unto me. Salvation is available for anyone, for everyone, anyone can come. You say well then then how is it that I was predestinated here. Let me let you into a little secret, you weren’t. I’m not the elect? No Jesus is the elect. I wasn’t chosen? No Jesus was chosen. I wasn’t predestinated? No, Jesus was predestinated. And anyone who believes in Jesus, anybody who calls upon Jesus, anybody who gets in Jesus can get into heaven. Because the only way you get into heaven is by being perfect and righteous and you’re not. You say, “I’m a saint.”. Not because of you. You’re a saint because of Christ. If you’re in Christ, it is because Jesus says “I will draw all men unto me”. He says, I want everyone to be in me. In fact, let’s look at it. Go to 2nd Peter chapter 3.
Jesus said it another way. He said this, many are called but few are chosen. And I like to use this example. What if I just had an endless amount of money and I just wanted to hire everyone. You know I just said forget the government trying to help people, I’m going to try to help people. I have an endless amount of money and resources and jobs. And I’m just going to hire anyone and everyone. What if I put an ad in the newspaper? What if I pay people to go door-to-door putting fliers on doors or knocking on doors telling people? And I just tell people hey, if you want a job you can have it. You anyone and everyone is accepted, no one will be rejected. All you have to do is come and I invite millions of people in Sacramento. But you know, 1,000 show up or 2,000 or 5,000 or whatever. They show up and I say hey, you’re hired. You got it. Now here’s the thing, I already preordained, I already pre chose anyone who wants to can have it. But they have to want to have it. Because there’s going to be lots of people who are going to say “Yeah, I’m not interested”.
And that’s exactly what salvation is. God has already pre-ordained. He says anyone who’s in Christ can be saved. And Jesus says anyone that wants to can come to me. He says anyone that wants to be saved. You say well then why would somebody not go to heaven? It’s not because they’re a bad person. Because here’s the problem with that, we’re all bad people. It’s not that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. Because there’s none that doeth good, no not one. You say who goes to heaven? Those who are in Christ. And you say well who wouldn’t want that? Just go soulwinning with us, we talk to people all the time and we say hey, salvation is a free gift in Jesus Christ. All you have to do is believe in Christ, trust in Christ, not your works, not your religion. And people all day, every day say “No.”. I’ll stay with my works. I’ll stay with my religion. I think I got a better shot doing it myself. It’s like okay. Go to hell if that’s what you want. And I’m not saying that in like a rude way. I’m saying if that’s what you want. Because anyone who’s in Christ is saved and anyone can come into Christ. He said I will draw all men unto me.
2 Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Look, God didn’t want anybody to go to hell. In fact he sent his Son to die on the cross to make salvation available for everyone. But he’s not going to force it upon you. You have to choose to believe. You have to choose to call upon Christ in faith to save you. And if you choose to put your trust in Jesus then you can go to heaven. But if you choose to say “Nah, I think I’m going to get to it because of my catechism”. Okay, go ahead and try. “I think I’m going to get to it because I live a good life. I repent of my sins.”. Look, there’s only two religions in the world. Those who believe in faith alone and those who believe in works. And when you add works to faith, it’s still works. So we see that Jesus will draw all men unto himself. Jesus says to everyone hey come. Whosoever will may come. Go back to Ephesians 1.
So our predestination is predestinated in Christ. So I was chosen from the foundation of the world? No, Jesus was chosen from the foundation of the world and anyone who’s in Christ gets chosen. Because here’s what you need to understand, when you read the writings of the Apostle Paul, you’ll find this terminology a lot “in Christ”. If you just do a search on those two words, you’ll find it all over the place. And you find this, that in the Bible there’s this teaching and I actually made a video about it not too long ago. But in the Bible, there’s this teaching, and you actually find it in Hebrews where the Bible says that the Levitical priests they were still in the loins of Abraham. Abraham yet had children and that they paid tithes in Abraham. Abraham by the way tithed to Melchizedek. And the Bible teaches this concept.
You say, “Well the Levitical priests didn’t tithe.”. Because Paul is making this argument that the priesthood of Melchizedek is greater than the priesthood of the Levites and Aaron. He says look, the Levites tithe to the priesthood of Melchizedek. And they would ask the question “Well how in the world did the Levitical priests’ tithes to Melchizedek in those days?”. And he preemptively answers the question. He says when they were in Abraham, when they were yet in the loins of Abraham. Abraham tithes and therefore they tithe. Because here’s what the Bible teaches, the Bible teaches that when you are in someone and you are in something, what’s true of that individual is true of you. So when Abraham tithed, the Levitical priests who were yet in his loins, they tithe because they were in Abraham. And when you follow that thought through, you realize this is what the Bible teaches. Why is it that we are condemned to hell? Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world. And people say “Well, I didn’t sin with Adam.”. But here’s the thing, you and I were in Adam when Adam sinned. And what became true of Adam became true of us. We got the sin nature. It’s not original sin. We’re not going to go to hell for Adam’s sin. Everybody goes to hell for their own sin. But what became true of Adam (sinner), what became true of Adam (condemned), what became true of Adam (unable to save himself) became true of us. Because we were in Adam and when you got saved you got plucked out. You got taken out. You’re no longer in Adam. You got placed in Christ. And what was true of Christ now becomes true of you. That’s why you’re a saint. That’s why you’re predestinated. That’s why your chosen. That’s why your elect. It’s not because you’re better than anybody else. It’s about Christ. It’s always been about Christ. Notice our position in Christ. Why do we get to be in Christ? Look at Ephesians 1:7.
Notice what he says he says “7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,”. Remember, Jesus said it “now if I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me”. Why do you and I get to be in Christ? Because I live such a good life? Because I’m such a good person? Because I follow the ten commandments? Because I go to church? No, look, we have “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”. Why are we saved? Because Christ paid for our sins, period. That’s the only way anybody can be saved. Go to Hebrews 9.
This is developed throughout the entire New Testament. Hebrews 9:14 “14 How much more shall the blood of Christ,”. Because again, remember in Hebrews you’ve got this dichotomy. You go back and forth. Christ is better than Moses. Christ is better than the priesthood. Christ is better than the angels. Christ is better. Here he’s telling us how the sacrifice of Christ was better than the sacrifice of bulls and of goats of the Old Testament. Notice verse 14, he says “14 How much more”. Because he just got done telling us that the blood of goats and bulls, they’re not able to atone for sin. They’re not able to forgive or able to make atonement for since. Notice verse 14 “14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit”. Man, I wish I had the time to develop all this. How is it that Jesus paid for an eternity of sin by being three days in hell? Well, it’s because he’s eternal. And “through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”.
Notice “15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”. And here’s all I’m trying to show you. And here’s all Paul is showing. It is this, that our position in Christ, we’re predestinated in Christ and in our position in Christ. Not only are we safe but we have received an inheritance and it’s an eternal inheritance, that we might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Go back to Ephesians 1. Notice verse 8. Ephesians 1:8 “8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:”.
Notice what he said. I love this wording. Sometimes Paul is deep and you have to dissect all the words. But he said this, “10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times”. And Dispensationalists, they go crazy on verses like these. Just because the word is there doesn’t mean that you can take it out of context and created this story of angels that are a thousand feet tall, impregnating women and all sorts of craziness. That’s not in the Bible. But he says that in the dispensation of the fullness of times. Notice what he says “he might gather together in one all things”. So he’s saying look, in the dispensation of fullness of times, he says when time is over and God is getting ready to gather together in one all things, here is how he is going to gather them in Christ.
Do you understand that no one goes to heaven based on their own merit? No one gets in by who they were related to or how good they were. If you get gathered together, that’s not like the rapture. If you get “gather together in one all things in Christ,”. And you say, what do you mean? What does it mean when it says he’s going to gather together? He says look “both which are in heaven,”. Because there’s some saints in heaven right now. “and which are on earth;”. Because there’s some saints that are on earth right now. And he’s going to gather both together in one in Christ. Notice “in him:”. Even in who? In Christ.
It’s all about Christ. It’s never about you. It’s never about me. It’s never about anyone but Christ. And by the way, these are Old Testament Saints. You say “How do Old Testament saints get saved?”. In Christ. He’s going to gather all in Christ “both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated”. You are predestinated in Christ. And you get an inheritance “being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”. And he talked about this in verse three. Notice what he said in verse 3. “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us”. Notice “with all spiritual blessings”. You say, are you about to turn into a prosperity preacher? Health and wealth. He’s given us all “spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”. Because here’s what he says and here’s what we’re going to talk about next week. Because you know it’s already and we got to get to the pie. But go to 1st Peter just really quickly. Let me just show you one more thing and we’ll finish up here. Here’s what I want you to understand. And in case you say, “I don’t know. Paul’s a little wordy sometimes and I didn’t really get it all.”.
Okay, here’s the whole point. God the Father chose God the son from the foundation of the world. And God the Father made a deal with God the Son. And the deal was this, anyone that’s in you will be accepted into the beloved. You are my son and anyone in you, I will adopt. And then Jesus came to this earth and he said anyone who wants to can be saved, whosoever will may come. For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever. He says that anyone who wants to can accept it. But you have to be in Christ. You can’t be in your religion. You can’t be trusting in good things. And here’s what the father says. The father says if you’re in Christ, not only did I predestinate you for a heaven, because one day I’m going to gather together those which are in heaven and those which are on earth, I’m going to put them together in Christ. He said I’ve also predestinated you to have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And he says I promised you an inheritance.
1 Peter 1:1 says this “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,”. Notice verse 2. Here’s another word that Calvinists love. “elect”. What does it mean to be elect? You’re chosen, right? When we have an election, we choose a president. “2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,”. And this is what Calvinists say “I was elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”. Ya, ““through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:”. It’s always about Christ. “Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”. Notice, “3 Blessed be”. Does this sound like Ephesians? “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”. How were we begotten again unto a lively hope? Was it because of my baptism? Was it because of my catechism? Was it because of my good life? Was it because I used to drink alcohol and now I don’t? I used to be on drugs and now I don’t do drugs? I used to do bad things and I don’t? No look, the only way anybody ever gets saved is by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Verse 4, notice “4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”. I don’t know about you but I’ve never had a big physical inheritance left by a rich uncle or something like that. Every once in a while, you know I’ll go check the mail and my wife and I will have kind of make this joke. “Did we get our million-dollar check?”. And I’m like “No, not today.”. And it’s just kind of this joke and it’s whatever. But here’s the point. In this life you may have a lot of trials and tribulations, you may go through a lot of heartache, and you may never have an inheritance. But the Bible tells us that God has predestined you for an inheritance. He says an inheritance that fadeth not away. He says in an incorruptible, undefiled, reserved waiting for you. In heaven he’s chosen you. He’s elected you. He’s loved you. He’s accepted you. Not because of you but because you’re in Christ. And everything that’s true of Christ became true of us when we called upon him for salvation. And next week we’ll continue to look through this and we’ll look at not only the position of the Father and the performance of the Son but next week we’ll talk about the purpose of the Holy Spirit. I want to encourage you; we just started a book of the Bible and you’re here tonight. I want to encourage you to stay with us every week and on Wednesday nights as we study the book of Ephesians together and we learn these doctrinal truths that the apostle Paul has for us.
Let’s pray.