Month: March 2019

227. A perfect man

Ephesians 4:13c …unto a perfect man…

The equipping of the saints builds up the body unto a perfect man. This promise says that we shall become a perfect man, not that we will see a perfect man in this life outside of Jesus Christ; but that is where the Lord is taking us. The body of Christ will be a perfect man. Another metaphor for the people of God is the Bride of Christ without spot or wrinkle.

We do not see a perfect man, and unblemished bride, or a pure body of Christ while we live on the earth. The body is now a perfect man, but it is invisible. But since we do not see it, we have this promise that this is what God sees when He looks at the body of Christ. We do not see it now, but we have the promise that we will see it in the Eternal State when the pure Bride marries the holy Christ. God gives us this promise just because we can’t see it. The invisible Church is holy now by faith, and the Church will be holy later by sight.

God created human beings (each one of us) innocent, pure, holy and perfect. It was so in the beginning until sin and rebellion entered the Creation through our Sin. I was complicit in my own destruction: it was not just Adam’s fault; I am guilty. But God still loved Adam, and me too, and set out to get us back, but to bring us back to God we have to be made righteous and perfect. God loved me this way: He sent His Son. He makes me perfect, or whole.

I am today declared to be a perfect man, and the Holy Spirit is continually striving to perfect me. I will later become a perfect man in actual life and behavior. That’s a promise. But it is not just me individually; it is all believers in Christ together as one perfect man. The promise is plural: “Until we all attain….” God loves us and saves us individually, but the primary focus in the Bible is on the corporate “body.” All of us together are regarded as the One Perfect Man. We cannot see with God’s eyes, so we simply believe God’s Word and Promise.

We do not know what a “perfect man” looks like, but we do see Jesus. We do not know what the plural One Holy Christian Church looks like as one “perfect man,” but we are a part of it

226. Knowledge of the Son of God

Ephesians 4:13 …and of the knowledge of the Son of God…

The equipping of the saints builds up the body of Christ until we all attain to the knowledge of the Son of God. In eternity this promise will be fully realized: we will know the Son even while we continue to learn about the Son for all eternity. This knowledge is virtually inexhaustible.

Complete knowledge of the Son is impossible for human comprehension while on earth, since humans are corrupted by sin, death and the devil, by the ignorance of the flesh, and by the deceits of the world. How great, wondrous and beautiful the Son of God is! Knowledge of Christ, who He is and what he has done, how much He loves and what His death and resurrection means for us, is beyond our full comprehension; but knowing Christ is possible as soon as we believe Him. 

We know Christ immediately but we grow in that knowledge. What happens to us is that over time we know Him better; and He becomes to us better and better all the time. The more we hear and believe the Gospel the deeper His love, the more amazing His grace, the more beautiful He looks, the wiser He appears, and the brighter He appears until finally Christ becomes all in all. When it dawns upon by the revelation of the Gospel that Christ is all we ever need for life and happiness we realize that we need nothing more. The more we know Him the less we need and desire anything else.

The promise is that we know the Son well enough for this life; and we have the promise that in eternity we will know Him completely and see Him most clearly; and we will feel His liquid love pouring over us all the time. But for now “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowingChrist Jesus my Lord.” It is wonderful to know the Son; it is more wonderful to know Him better and better; and it will be most wonderful to know Him perfectly even as I am known.

225. Unity of the Faith

Ephesians 4:13a Till we all come in the unity of the faith….

The purpose of the spiritual gifts is for the building up of the body of Christ with the result that we will all attain to the unity of the faith. This is a promise that will come true. We need this promise because we do not see the unity of the faith in the visible church on earth; we see divisions and arguments and polemics from one denomination against another. We seldom see the unity of the faith in one small local congregation; instead we see strife and division and party factions for all kinds of reasons. 

Disunity is common in the church and in the churches, and it is even to be expected among any group of sinners.We can’t find unity in a small group like a family or even a marriage. Marriage and family and church are institutions instituted by God, and He makes unity; but sinful humanity exists in every human grouping ever striving to cause discord and disharmony destroying the unity of the faith in any Christian group.

Therefore, unity of faith is a goal and end product of the equipping of the saints. It is a work that is never finished on this earth, but it is a goal that the Spirit never ceases to strive for. It will be completed in the Eternal State of the new heavens and the new earth when everything is completely perfected forever. Meanwhile, it is also a promised fact: there is a unity of the faith in the invisible Church. Invisible means we don’t see it. It must be believed: there is a unity of the faith produced by the Holy Spirit. A unity of Spirit does exist between all true believers. Concurrently, disunity and division will always exist between believers and unbelievers. 

This disunity and sharp division will continue until War breaks out. The only cure for this disunity is to witness Christ to unbelievers until they are converted and brought into the kingdom of light. “What portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? [2 Corinthians 4:15}. We make war against the kingdom of darkness by rescuing its people. Believe the true unity while recognizing the true disunity.

224. Gifts of Grace

Ephesians 4:7-8 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Every person who is called by the Gospel and believes in Christ is given a grace gift. A gift is always free, not earned, given by grace. In the case of our gift of salvation it was, however, earned by Jesus Christ. Along with the gift of salvation given by grace through the Gospel come the gifts of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has called us by the Gospel and enlightened us with His gifts.

Examples of a couple dozen gifts are given in the New Testament. The number of gifts varies with the interpretation and the lists are probably not meant to be exhaustive. The point is simply that every believer has a gift of grace. The gifts are given by God to be used for the building up of the body and the growth of the kingdom.

The other point is that the gifts of grace are free. We do not learn them or need special training to develop them. We simply discover what gifts we have been given and then use them. Generally, spiritual gifts are distributed as the Spirit sees fit; we do not choose them. A gift is something that one is naturally good at, likes to do it, and it comes easy to the believer.

A talent is usually considered to be something that a person has by nature; he is born with it. A talent can be trained and developed. A talent is often used for living in the world and it may be used for one’s own gain and benefit. A natural talent can and should be used for the glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ. A spiritual gift is normally used for the good of others. The explicit differences between gifts and talents are not always clearly distinguished in Scripture. But whether we use a gift or a talent we regard it as a gift of God, and we use it in the service of people.We believe this promise when we use the grace gifts we are given.

223. Power that Works

Ephesians 3:20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.

God promises a power that works in us. Power is strength or might; it is the ability to do something, to get things done, to make something happen. The power that works in us is the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The Gospel actually and effectively saves us from the enemies that are trying to destroy and kill us. Sin, Death, and the Devil are too powerful for any of us to overcome with our own strength. I do not even have the ability to come to Jesus, to believe in Him, to decide for Jesus, or do anything for God at all. Without the Gospel I am lost and condemned, and I will remain that way unless acted upon from the outside. The Word and the Spirit are that external force that enters into our spirit through the Gospel.

We can trust that power to work. It really does what it says it will do. Something really happens: we are truly changed, saved, forgiven, and blessed. It is not magic, and it is not a fantasy. Salvation is something real and powerful that happens to us and in us. The Gospel is not only life changing; it is also earth shattering, death defying, and sin destroying. The awesome power that works in us is truly beyond natural belief.

God really does the impossible: He saves us. He is “able to do.”The Lord can do whatever we can ask or think of, which is amazing in itself; but he can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. We ask, and God gives more; we think of something, and God thinks of something better. The words “exceeding abundantly” are hard to believe, but God does the impossible: He gives us faith to believe these words.He has already done great things for us, and He is doing great things in us, and more, the future is securely in His hands and eternity is a certainty. Jesus is the God who is able. Not only can He do, but also He willdo. We can turn to Him in any need, for any prayer, and trust Him to accomplish even more than we can imagine.

222. Fullness of God

Ephesians 3:19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

We are filled with all the fullness of God. That is quite something to promise. The fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Jesus Christ. That we can sort of understand, but that we sinful humans should be filled with all the fullness of God is something else again. But think of it: if Jesus is God and God dwells completely in the human body of Jesus, and Jesus dwells in us by faith, then the fullness of God fills the body of each believer as well.

We certainly don’t see that truth and we are aware of our own sin that dwells in the body of death. So we ask, “How can that be?” It is seen with the eyes of faith. Our natural eyes see sin much more readily and much abundantly than they see God. But the eyes of faith see things differently: while sin resides in the body so also the fullness of God resides alongside as well. The mystery of being at the same time a “saint and a sinner” fully and all the time is a mystery; a mystery is a truth that we cannot understand. It must be believed; that is why we have the Word of God, to reveal to faith the things we cannot see. Both “saint and sinner” is a paradox that we must hold in tension all the time. Being consciously aware of both simultaneously is only possible by the power of God. The Gospel of God is the power of God.

Knowing the love of Christ fills with the fullness. The love of Christ is not apprehended naturally, in nature. While nature reveals many things about God, a beautiful sunset does not tell us that God loves us. That must be supernaturally revealed. We hear the Gospel and we believe it; faith apprehends. The conscious awareness of God’s loving presence needs to be developed, nurtured, fed, practiced and lived out regularly. The Law and our own works and efforts will not tell us the love of God; only the Gospel tells us “Jesus loves me, this I know.”

Even when we know the love of Christ we will never know it all, how deep and high and broad and wide it really is. We will not exhaust the knowledge of the love of Christ in one lifetime; therefore we continue to be told and reminded of the Gospel that fills us with Christ’s love.The fullness of God does fill us fully, but we do not exhaust all the fullness and potential power of the love that is really present. Our enemies are constantly tempting us to unbelief, misbelief, and short belief. The Gospel empowers us to believe and then believe some more. Pray with Paul that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints the depths of Jesus’ love and the fullness of Christ’s indwelling.

221. Christ Dwells in Hearts

Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.

The promise that Christ is dwelling in our hearts is a common and precious one. It is a great blessing to know that by faith Jesus Christ is always with us, in us, and He is working through us. Wherever we go and whatever we do Jesus is there. We cannot escape His Presence, and we don’t want to. Even when we sinning He is still there, dwelling in the heart, although He is tenderly reproving our activity. Thankfully, He leads us to instant repentance and instant forgiveness.

Although God is present everywhere, Christ is particularly present in the heart in a special and personal way: He is present to bless. He is dwelling with us as a kind of watchdog using our own conscience to convict of sin in order to lead us to repentance and renewed faith. But He is also dwelling in the heart to bless us and do good things for us. He hears our prayers and meets our needs. He secures our hope for the future and solidifies our joy for the present. 

We may drift away from the awareness of His indwelling quite often while we are drawn away by the cares of the world and the demands of daily life; but He does not leave us, even if He is grieved. The awareness of Christ’s indwelling is maintained and brought to mind when we repent and believe the Gospel again and again. We need reminders of the Gospel at least daily through keeping in the Word, listening and talking to Christ. We may be dumb like sheep, but Christians have an articulate intelligence that communicates love for each other. Since Christ dwells in our hearts by faith this personal relationship is not hard to develop. We may ignore the presence of Christ, but we may still come back and talk to Him any time.

But Christ does only dwell, reside, live, and abide in the heart, He also rules, guides, governs, and directs the heart. Jesus Christ is Lord!He is the King of the Kingdom. We may resist His Lordship and rebel, but He still rules, not by force but by love. We respond by faith, yielding to His wise leadership. It is all rooted and grounded in love.

220.  Strengthened with Might

Ephesians 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.

We are promised strength with might, strong strength, in the inner man. This is not physical strength or military might, but strength in the soul, invisible strength, emotional strength. The inner man is the soul influenced and positively affected by the Spirit in the human spirit. The strength and confidence we need does not come from self-confidence or from inner strength in the mind, emotions and will of the natural human. The confidence we have been promised comes from God’s Spirit, not from the human soul.

Inner strength and self-confidence has always been commended and honored, but inner confidence is confidence in God, and inner strength is God’s strength. This very strength with might in the inner man is “by His Spirit,” that is, it is the life of God that lives deep within our spirit, and there is no doubt that the life of God is very strong, Our inner nature is being renewed every day. Everything in the physical universe naturally decays, rots, gets weaker, disintegrates, and finally dies, unless it is maintained and nurtured.

The oil and the nourishment that maintains continued functioning and health for the spiritual and invisible soul is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every human soul needs continuous injections of oil (Spirit), cleansing (by the Blood), and nutrients (Law and Gospel). If we do not get these renewed doses of Gospel the inner man begins to wear down. This raises a practical question: How many weeks can one go without hearing the Gospel? The Gospel strengthens with might in the inner man, and we go from strength to strength and from victory unto victory. How strong is it? As strong as the riches of His Glory.

219. Boldness and Access

Ephesians 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

We don’t have to act bold; we already have boldness and access; it is a promise given to believers as the children of God. We do not really have to be bold to ask our earthly father and mother for something; we just use the boldness we already have to make a request. How much more when we approach the perfect heavenly Father! In prayer we simply use the boldness and access we have been given. We are confident in approaching our heavenly Father.

Luther says in the meaning of “Our Father who art in heaven:” “…with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.”  Jesus instructed us to “pray this way” so that we might be greatly encouraged to believe His promise to hear our prayers and meet our needs. We need to know it is the good and gracious will of our Father to do so. Not only has our loving Father promised to hear us, but He is also longing the hear us; He just loves to hear us talk to Him. Even if we pray with selfish whining and begging He loves us so much He just wants to develop His relationship with us. 

The faith of Jesus gives us confidence to approach God with boldness and access. Boldness is the stance we take in our approach to God. What may appear bold to us in regard to our petitions will not appear bold to the Lord at all. The Lord seems to encourage us to ask for big things; we do not ask in presumption but in simple faith. We are bold to ask because God is not only big, bigger than our problems, but God is also lovingand kind, kinder than our expectations. We come to God in prayer with the attitude of faith that knows God is loving (our Father) and big (in heaven).

It is not only in prayer that we have boldness and access with confidence, but it is also generally in everyday life that we live like we have boldness and access. We know down deep and on the surface that Jesus is with us as the Good Shepherd even when we don’t give voice to the needs of the day. He already knows our needs and graciously provides, but He still wants us to approach Him and talk to Him. We can be bold about anything because He will not turn us away; but the Lord receives us and deliberates about the request whether it is good for us and gives glory to God. Be bold to use the boldness God gave.

218. Partakers of the Promise

Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.

The promise is for Gentiles, that they (we) should be partakers of the same promisethat the Jews received. Both Jews and Gentiles have obtained all the same promises given in the Old Testament since they all come true in Christ by the gospel. If you were a Jew in the early church you might resent the fact that non-Jews could be fellow heirs and be a part of the same body and partake of God’s promise by simple faith in Jesus Christ. “We have earned our way into the promise by faithfulness to the Torah, and here they come and enter in by faith in Christ. It’s not fair.”

But if you are a Gentile, you would be doubly grateful that it is all by grace, for Christ has done everything necessary for us to receive all the promises of the Old and New Testament Scriptures. “I am a fellow heir and I wasn’t even born right; I am an equal member of the same body of God’s people and I didn’t even try to keep the Law; I am a partaker of His promiseand I did nothing to earn it. How amazing! I have it all by grace through faith in Christ. I have believed the gospel and I am included. I was not circumcised, but I was baptized.” The impact of such a wondrous revelation and gracious blessing is lost upon us because we today don’t realize how far we were away from the promises; we did not have the advantage of the Scriptures (Old Testament). 

For the Jew, Christ fulfills all the promises of God, and it all makes sense and comes together in Christ. This dawning overwhelmed Paul and all the Apostles. For the Gentile, this dawning should overwhelm us even more because it is all by grace. The gospel grants everything to us: just repent and believe it. Even the early Gentile Christians were tempted to turn toward Judaism with the deception that thinks I must do or decide something that God gives for free. Grace is Amazing!

I am a partaker: that means that I have a share in and I am a part of all the promises in God’s Word. I share in God’s Life, God’s Love, God’s Family, God’s Grace and Goodness. All that is already given. It is up to me to possess it, use it, and enjoy it.