Dr. Dallas Burdette September 25, 1999
Thrust
statement: One experiences all spiritual blessings
in Christ.
Scripture
Reading: Ephesians 1:1-3.
Paul
begins this epistle by speaking of the Ephesians as “in Christ Jesus”—“the faithful in Christ Jesus.”
Paul was a Christ-intoxicated man. Paul could not leave Christ out; he is
always talking about Him. In the very next verse, he writes: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:2).[1]
Again, he brings home the point that all spiritual blessings come to those in
Christ: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ”
(1:3).
The phrase “in Christ” occurs twenty-seven times in this epistle. This
expression describes the spiritual position of each person that has accepted
Jesus Christ as his/her Savior.
Every Christian lives a double life. The people to whom Paul wrote had a human address as well as a spiritual address. They lived “in Ephesus, and they lived “in Christ.” The same state of affairs is also true today. Will Oldfield lives in DeFuniak Springs, FL, but Will Oldfield also lives “in Christ.” Dallas Burdette lives in Montgomery, AL, but he also lives “in Christ.” Every believer at Oakwood Hills has his/her personal address, but every believer at Oakwood Hills also has his/her spiritual address. It is “in Him” that I have been saved. It is “in Him” that I have been sanctified. It is “in Him” that I have been justified. Listen once more as Paul reinforces the place of predestination and the sealing with the Holy Spirit:
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined
according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the
purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
And you also were included in Christ when
you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you
were marked in him with a seal,
the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the
praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:11-14).
Two Blessings: Predestination and Election
Paul
in the beginning of this epistle introduces the subject of predestination. But
it is worthy of note that for Paul, predestination is “in Him.” Salvation is
available to all who respond to the call of God, not to a select few chosen
before the foundation of the world. Predestination is associated with the body
of Christ, not certain individuals. This same truth is taught by Peter and John
in their address before the Sanhedrin: “Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men
by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Paul, too, tells the Christians at Rome: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved” (Romans 10:13). If you
wish to be a part of God’s elect, then you must experience the new birth. It is
our birth in Christ that reconciles us to God. It is in Christ that we become a
part of those predestined before the foundation of the world. This knowledge of
God’s salvation through Christ should cause every believer to boast only in the
Lord. Paul speaks of this message in his first letter to Corinth:
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began (1 Corinthians 2:6-7).
Predestination and Election in Christ
This
message of God’s wisdom had been hidden before time began and is now made known
for our glory. God in His infinite wisdom devised a way He could justify sinful
man. This could only be done through His Son Jesus. This is why Paul could
write: “It is because of him that you
are in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and
redemption. Therefore, as it
is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord’” (1:30-31). Yes, Jesus is our “wisdom,” our “righteousness,” our
“holiness,” and our “redemption.”
The Christian can boast only “in Christ” about his salvation. Christ is central, He is essential, and He is absolute. The third chapter of Romans details God’s response to man’s sinful and lost condition. Paul captures the very heart of predestination and election when he writes:
God presented him as a sacrifice of
atonement, through faith in his blood.
He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left
the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice
at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have
faith in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26).
Predestination and Election
Available To All Who Believe
One’s predestination and election hinges upon being in Christ. This predestination and election is obtainable to all who believe in Jesus. Again, Paul brings out this point prior to telling us where justice and mercy kissed each other—at the cross of Calvary.
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (3:21-25).
God’s salvation is available “to all who
believe.” It is accessible only “through faith in Jesus Christ.” This is what God predestined before the
foundation of the world. In other words, salvation is only offered “in” and
“through” Jesus. If you want to become a part of the elect, then you must
believe in Him. If you want to boast
about your salvation, then boast of the fact that in Jesus all spiritual
blessings flood into the lives of men and women. He that has ears to hear let
him hear; he that has eyes to see let him see. Look at the doxology of praise
with fresh eyes. Hear this doxology of praise with fresh ears. Observe that
predestination and election occurs in Him and in Him alone. Paul soars, as it
were, to the heights of heaven as he seeks to capture the wonder of it all.
All Spiritual Blessings in Christ:
Predestination, Election, Redemption, Forgiveness of
Sins, and Adoption
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:3-14).
The choosing applies to those
“in Christ.” Predestination has to do with redemption and forgiveness of sins
and adoption as sons of God in Christ.
The predestined are those who are “in Christ.” Eternal life is open “to
all who believe.” Jesus explains the basis of eternal redemption to Nicodemus
this way:
As Moses lifted
up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up so that everyone who believes may
have eternal life in him. For this is how God loved the
world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may
have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world,
but so that through him the world might be
saved. No one who believes in him will be judged; but whoever does not believe
is judged already, because that person does not believe in the Name of God’s
only Son. And the judgement is this: though the light has come into the world
people have preferred darkness to the light because their deeds were evil. And
indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, to prevent his
actions from being shown up; but whoever does the truth comes out into the
light, so that what he is doing may plainly appear as done in God (John 3:14-21).
Included
in the Spiritual Blessings Through Faith
In Him we were chosen. How does one become a
part of the chosen? How does one become a part of the predestined? Paul says, “you also were included in Christ when you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians
1:13). Again, Paul explains election and predestination this way: “Having
believed, you were marked in him” (1:13). Paul could just
as easily said, “Having believed you were chosen.” He could just as easily
said, “ Having believed you were predestined.” How does one become a part of
the elect, the chosen, or the predestined? Paul explains: “through faith in
Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans
3:22).
The Christian glories “in Christ” because
he/she realizes that the whole point of the incarnation was that Christ might
save us from our sins and reconcile us to God. Christ did all of that for us.
He did this for our sakes; He did this for our sins; He did this for our
deliverance and emancipation. It is in Him that we are saved; it is in Him that
we are sanctified. It is all in Him: wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and
redemption.
Every believer is both saint and
faithful in Christ Jesus. The Christian is not only one who believes in Christ,
but he is in a real sense “in Christ.” The believer belongs to Him; he is
joined to Him. One cannot help but reflect upon Paul’s words to the Christians
in Corinth: “Do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from
God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore
honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
In the sixth chapter of Romans, Paul explains that every believer identified himself/herself with Christ in his/her baptism. Paul writes:
What shall we
say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we
live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were therefore buried with him through
baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have
been united with him like this in his death,
we will certainly also be united with him in
his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because
anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will
also live with him. For we know
that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no
longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but
the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to
sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil
desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought
from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of
righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law,
but under grace (Romans 6:1-14).
Paul is saying that when Christ was crucified, we were crucified with Him; when Christ died, we died with Him; when Christ was buried, we were buried with Him; when Christ rose from the grave, we rose with Him. Jesus is now seated in the heavenly places. We too are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Listen to Paul as he describes this bliss:
But because of his great love for us, God,
who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ
even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in
the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For
we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:4-10).
Conclusion
One cannot help but stagger at such truth—we are a part of Christ. Yes, we belong to Him; we are members of the body of Christ; we are not our own; we are bought with a price—His blood. We enjoy all His spiritual blessings because we are “in Christ.” In Him we are a part of those predestined and chosen before the foundation of the world. The Christian is one who is “in Christ.” One experiences all spiritual blessings in Christ—predestination, election, redemption, forgiveness of sins, and adoption. Salvation comes “through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (3:22-25).
Oakwood Hills
Church
DeFuniak Springs, FL
Date: Sunday, September 26, 1999
Time: 11 am
Date: Sunday,
October 3, 1999
Time: 11 am