Welcome to Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas. In season 1, Pastor Jim is leading us in a study of Ephesians. Today’s passage is Ephesians 1:3-6
“No question is as prominent or as important in our society as the question ‘Who am I?’”
– Christopher Watkin, Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture
“Many of our spiritual troubles arise from our failure to remember that we are citizens of two kingdoms. We tend either to pursue Christ and withdraw from the world, or to become preoccupied with the world and forget that we are also in Christ.”
– John Stott, God’s New Society: The Message of Ephesians
Christians have two addresses:
- The saints were 1. At Ephesus and 2. In Christ Jesus.
- What might it mean to Christ that you are “at” your city?
- What could it mean to your city that you are “in” Christ?
“The grace of God in Christ provides us with a new identity, a heavenly one; it follows that this—and not our natural identity—determines everything we do. Our identity, our citizenship, is heavenly.”
– Sinclair Ferguson, Worthy: Living in Light of the Gospel
Ephesians is Trinitarian
- God the Father = planning, choosing and calling us (v3-6)
- God the Son = saving and redeeming us (v7-12)
- God the Holy Spirit = sanctifying and sealing us (v13-14)
Notice the significance of “according to the kind intention of His will.”
Doctrine of predestination and election.
- Is a divine revelation not a human speculation.
- Is an incentive to holiness not an excuse for sin.
- Is a stimulus to humility not a ground for boasting.
“The predestinating love of God is commended more by those who lead holy and Christlike lives than by those whose attempts to unravel the mystery partake of the nature of logic-chopping.”
– F. F. Bruce
“What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father.”
– J.I. Packer, Knowing God
