The unsearchable riches of Christ

Faith not works

Scripture: Eph 2:8-10.

Stream or download The Unsearchable Riches of Christ, Pt27

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III. WHILE WORKS HAVE NO PART IN OUR SALVATION THEY DO HAVE A PART IN OUR RELIGION
We are created unto good works.

1. Pattern of good works decided. Just what good works are is determined by God. The path of holiness is mapped out by Him. It is a doing of His will; it is a being like Him. 1 Pet 1:16. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people, Jeremiah 31:33.The will is renewed. Q35:What is sanctification? A:Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, 2Thessalonians 2:13
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, Ephesians 4:24.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, Romans 8:1.

2. Persistence in good works demanded. Walk. We must progress in good works. 2 Peter 1:3-11. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them, Ezekiel 36:27.

3. Power for good works supplied. Gal 2:20; Phil 2:13. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:37-39. Overflowing power is to be found in Christ whereby we live for Christ and become a source of blessing and life to others. Let us drink from Christ.

Faith not works

Scripture: Eph 2:8-10.

Stream or download The unsearchable riches of Christ, Pt26

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The emphasis that Paul places upon grace and faith and on the positive and negative aspects of how a sinners is saved, underscores the importance of these doctrines. These verses serve as a summation of what has been set down in the previous seven verses.

These verses tell us again how we are saved and why we were saved.
The word “for” links what is about to be said to what has been said already.

I. HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT WE UNDERSTAND HOW WE BECAME CHRISTIANS

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said that many mistakes flowed from a misunderstanding of this vital matter. If we get the foundations wrong, then we will get the whole structure wrong.

1. Salvation is all of grace. It is entirely of God. This is the sixth reference to grace in this epistle son far. All told there are twelve mentions of grace in the epistle. This is the middle reference. It is one thing to know the meaning of these words with your head. It is another thing to know the meaning with your heart.

2. Salvation came to the most undeserving and worthless of beings. Twice in this chapter our deadness is mentioned, verses 1, 5. There is a world of difference between carrying a conscious person and an unconscious person. One can assist you the other cannot! The dead sinner can render no assistance in their own salvation.

II. IT IS IMPORT FOR US TO LEARN THAT WE HAD NO PART IN OUR SALVATION

1. That is underscored for us. Verse 8. Even the faith we exercised in order to cling to Christ was not of ourselves. It was a gift from God.
It is given, Romans 10:17; 12:3; Gal 3:23, 25. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, Gal 5:22. Faith COMETH by hearing –  a spiritual process, Luke 24:32, 45.

2. Our redemption is spoken of as a work of creation. Verse 10, Col 1:6. Therefore, it is a work of God alone. A new work had to be wrought in order that we might be delivered from sin. It was not a case of renovation but of creation. The Christian is one in whom God is working! Gal 4:19, Phil 1:6; 2:13.

3. The Christian has no grounds for boasting. Man tends to boast of his works and become proud whenever he thinks he has had a part in his won salvation. “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others,” Luke 18:9.

But God….Pt3

Scripture: Eph 2:4-7.

Stream or download the unsearchable riches of Christ, Pt25

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IV. WHAT A GLORIOUS HONOUR IS THUS CONFERRED UPON THE CHRISTIAN.
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:6-7.
1. Not merely made alive but made to share in Christ’s glory. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne, Rev 3:21. We are citizens of heaven. For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 3:20. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people, Psalm 113:7-8. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen,  Rev 1:6. And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth, Rev 5:10.
2. In us will be displayed God’s grace. As the glory of Solomon display God’s mercy to the king, so it will be with us, I Kings 10:6-9.
3. The glory of which the Christian is a partaker cannot be imagined.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is, 1 John 3:2.
4. Humbly, thankfully we must say now what our enemies will one day acknowledge. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! Num 23:23.