Thoughts on Ephesians – Part 1
EPH 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
A bloodless gospel is no gospel at all. Our redemption is through His blood. The forgiveness of sins is only made possible thru His blood. The riches of His grace can only be given to us because He shed His blood.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
There can be no remission of sin without the shedding of blood.
God told Adam that if he ate of the tree that death was the penalty. God is righteous and Holy so He cannot change His mind. God must do what He said. So for man to be redeemed the penalty of death must be paid. Someone must die to pay the penalty.
The Bible tells us that life is in the blood.
Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul.
Life is in the blood. Life must be given to pay for sins, so blood must be shed. Hopefully you are seeing the connection between life and blood. But not just any blood would do.
Only the sinless blood of the son of God could atone for sin. Only the blood of God manifested in the flesh would do.
The life is in the blood. Christ gave His life for you, so Christ shed is blood.
We know that His blood was accepted as payment for our sin debt because 3 days later He rose from the dead. If His shed blood was not sufficient, then He would still be dead. He would still be paying for sin because the wages of sin is death. But thank God His blood was a sufficient atonement for sin. He did raise from the dead.
We can now have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Never be ashamed of the blood. It is only because of His blood that we can be saved.
EPH 1:15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
EPH 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
Paul heard about these Christians. He heard about their faith in the Lord Jesus. And he heard about their love unto all the saints. The second naturally follows the first. Faith in the Lord Jesus should produce a love for the brethren. God loved them, died for them, and lives within them after they get saved. God loves them. Love for God will result in loving what He loves. When Paul heard about their love he prayed and gave God thanks for them. We should never take for granted brothers and sisters in Christ who love like they should.
After thanking God for them in prayer, Paul adds a prayer request for them.
EPH 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
EPH 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
He asks for their eyes of understanding to be enlightened. He prays that God will give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. This is a great prayer request. Too many people do not understand that we need God to give us eyes to see. We need Him to open His word to us. Too many Christians go running to the wrong places for understanding of God’s Word. They should go to the one who wrote it. Prayer needs to go hand in hand with Bible study.
In Paul’s prayer for these Christians he also asks that they may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance. Paul asks that they may know. Know as opposed to wonder, debate, or doubt. God can give assurance. He can not only open our eyes to His truth, but He can give us assurance.
Paul’s prayer for other Christians is a good example for us. We should also tell God thank you for loving brothers and sisters in Christ. We should pray for their growth in the Lord. That he will give them wisdom, knowledge, and assurance. We should pray for other Christians out of a heart of gratitude with their best interest in mind.
EPH 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
EPH 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Verses 8 and 9 are two of the clearest verses in the Bible on how we are NOT saved by works. We do not work to get to heaven. Salvation is the gift of God. If we had to purchase it with works, then it would not be a gift. We are saved by faith and not works. Praise God for this wonderful truth, but Christian don’t stop reading at verse 9. Verse 10 is important to.
EPH 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Works does have a place in the life of a Christian. But they come after salvation.
We do not work to get saved, we work because we are saved. We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. God has ordained that after we are saved by faith as a free gift that we now should walk in good works.
After what Christ did for us on the cross; after the love that He bestowed upon us, we should want to do all we can for Him. All Christians should be doing some kind of good work for our Lord and Savior. Not to get saved, but because we are saved.
EPH 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
EPH 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
EPH 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
God’s love cannot be denied. He loved us when we were yet sinners. He loved us when we were still children of wrath. (verse 3) And out of mercy He saved us. By grace ye are saved. We in no way deserved it. He then, “raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. That is wonderful enough, but His love does not end with that. Look at what is ahead for us in verse 7.
EPH 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
He will be showing us the exceeding riches of His grace for all the ages to come. For all eternity He will be showing us His kindness toward us. We cannot even begin to fathom the depths of what that will mean. It will be far above whatever we could imagine. The troubles of this life will pale in comparison with an eternity of His kindness.
EPH 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Before salvation we are citizens of the world. Our hearts, our goals, our desires are all bound up in this sin stained world. But O how that changes after you get saved! Salvation changes your citizenship. We are now citizens of Heaven. This world is not our home, we are just passing thru. Our hearts change, our goals change, as well as our desires. We set our affection on things above not on things on the earth. Having a new citizenship means that we have a new king! Our old king was the wicked king of this world. He did not care for us. He is the great liar and deceiver. Now we have a Lord who truly cares and who will never forsake us.
At salvation we also get a new family. We get new brothers and sisters in Christ. People who will pray for us, help us, encourage us. People who will rejoice when we rejoice and weep when we weep.
Getting saved was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Amen!
EPH 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
All things were created by Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only around during the creation week, but Jesus was the creator. Jesus existed before all things. Jesus existed before Mary. Mary is not the mother of God as in creating Him. Mary was only the vehicle whereby Jesus left the glories of Heaven and came to this sin stained earth.
It is Jesus who created all things. It was Jesus that humbled Himself and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.
It was the all-powerful Almighty creator that paid for your sins on the cross and then rose again 3 days later.
Now with that in mind look at verse 20.
EPH 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Power and ability is not a problem with Jesus. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or even think. After all He created all things, He is owner of all things, and He is master of all things.
And if you are saved, then you have access to Him.
EPH 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
This truth should change your outlook on prayer.
EPH 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;
God can strengthen our inner man by His Spirit. I have watched Christians face hard times and be strong spiritually. I have went to visit Christians who were dying and try to minister to them in some way. And they end up being a blessing to you. They are at peace and spiritually strong. They have had their inner man strengthened by the Spirit of God. The verse says that He can strengthen with might. Whatever hard circumstance comes our way He can give the strength to handle it. History shows that multitudes have died for their faith and they did it with a testimony of Jesus on their lips.
I have also seen Christians go thru some troubled water and they are whining and crying. They are worried and have no peace. What is the difference? Both are saved. One is handling things well and the other is not. The difference is one lets God strengthen his inner man by the Spirit and the other does not. One is living for the Lord in obedience and the other is not. God will not strengthen an inner man that is in rebellion or in pride. God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.
We need to realize just how much we need Him and we need to be in obedience to Him and call out to Him in prayer and ask for Him to strengthen us.
EPH 3:20 Now 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’s hand has not been weakened! He still has great power. He sent Holy Spirit conviction driven revival in the past. There are many who will insist that this society is too wicked to be reached. That is not true at all. You go study many of the revivals in the past and you will find that they took place among a wicked society. God had the power to do it then and He still has the power today. God has not changed. One of our problems today is that Christians don’t realize the great power of God. They don’t have faith in His ability. And because of this they don’t ask God for great things. Verse 20 says Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. I love the way it is worded. Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask. We cannot send a request too big.
God can still save souls today. He actually does it. However, we need to be involved. Notice the end of verse 20. according to the power that worketh in us, It is His power, but He uses us. His power works thru His children. This is another reason we don’t see a revival. Christians need to be involved in reaching the lost. If they are sitting on the sidelines, then His power will not work thru us.
EPH 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
When His power does a work thru us it brings glory unto God. It brings praise unto His name. And this is to take place throughout all ages. Yes this is to take place today. The problem is not with God. It is with Christians as a whole who will not open their mouth for Jesus, who will not give out gospel tracts, who will not ask in faith for great things from God.
God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Amen and Amen!
See more Lessons from Ephesians