Ephesians 2
Questions answered from Ephesians 2
- Does regeneration come before faith, or does faith come first?
- Are we saved by faith alone, or faith plus works? How do you reconcile Paul and James?Cites Ephesians 2:8, 9
- What is the dispensation of Grace (the church age)?Cites Ephesians 2:8, 9
- Can I get to heaven by being a good person?Cites Ephesians 2:8, 9
- What does "dead in sin" mean? Does it mean unable to respond?Cites Ephesians 2:1
- What must I do to be saved? How can I be saved?Cites Ephesians 2:9
- Can a Christian be possessed by a demon?Cites Ephesians 2:6
- In Ephesians 2:8, is faith the gift of God?Cites Ephesians 2:8
- Is the natural man neutral toward God?Cites Ephesians 2:1
Chuck Smith on Ephesians 2
Verse by verse, the C2000, 1979 to 1985 series. Permission granted by The Word For Today.
Chapter introduction
Shall we turn in our Bibles now to Ephesians, the second chapter.
Paul is going to talk about someone tonight...very interesting. You! Well, at least you are interested in the subject. For many of you it is your favorite subject. If we were able to take a wide angle lens picture of the service this evening and posted it on the bulletin board, and you went up to look at that picture, who is the first one you would look for? Of course.
God has done a wonderful thing for us. He has brought us salvation and eternal life and He doesn't want us boasting in what we have done. In fact, He doesn't want any flesh to glory in His sight. So even the faith by which we are saved God gives to us as a gift. So I can't even boast about my believing the truth of God. "Well, the truth came to me and I examined the truth, and I decided I am going to believe it." Nope, "by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is a gift of God."
Verse 1
And you (2:1)
Paul said.
Now notice the words,
hath he quickened (2:1),
Are in italics. What it means is that these words were added by the translators. That they do not appear in the original Greek text in this place. Now, they do appear in the original Greek text down in verse 5, but it does not appear here at the beginning of this text. And so they wrote "hath he quickened" in italics in order to indicate the fact that they themselves added those words. They are not a part of the original text.
Evidently it was just a little bit to heavy. The things that Paul has to say about you, so that they tried to sort of cushion the whole blow by giving you a peak ahead at what he is going to say about you.
But at this point, Paul is just saying, and you
who were dead in your trespasses and sins (2:1);
God said to Adam, "In the day that you eat thereof you will surely die." Talking about that forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. God was talking about spiritual death. That awareness of God, that communion with God, or that fellowship and oneness that God intended that man should have with God. That would cease, for God is a Spirit, they that worship Him worship Him in Spirit and in truth. The relationship with God would cease the moment that man disobeyed the commandment of God, the moment man transgressed. And so "and you who were dead" really as the result of your transgressions and sins.
The Greek word for sin, hamartia, is a word that means "to miss." Our English word sin comes from a root "to miss." In fact, it comes from a game in archery that the British used to have. They would put a hoop on a pole, and each man would take his quiver of arrows and shoot his arrows through the hoop one at a time. And so maybe you would have five men in the contest. Each of them with ten arrows, and one after another they would shoot their arrow through the hoop there at the top of the pole. Now, if a man should miss the hoop, then he was called a sinner, you have missed. And he would have to treat the rest of the fellows to the drinks. He was a sinner. He had missed the mark.
Now, by the very root of the word, it does indicate, which is also true, that it is possible to be a sinner without wanting to be. It is possible that you would be trying very hard to hit the mark. But no matter how hard we may try to hit the mark, none of us have really hit the mark that God has required for man. All have sinned, or missed the mark, and come short of the glory of God. Now, some may have come closer than others.
If we decided to go sailing out here in the channel and maybe sail to Catalina, but half way across the channel we sprang a leak in the boat and it starts to go down, and some of you who can't swim go down with the boat. Others who are novices at swimming may swim a few feet and then go down. Some who are strong swimmers may swim for a mile or two before they go under. And there may be a marathoner in the group that will get within a mile of the shore before he goes under. Someone may even make it almost to the pier, a hundred feet off of the pier and gulp, gulp, gulp, you know.
Now, you have all come short, no one made it. That is what God says about us, you may come closer than others, but we have all come short of the glory of God. We have all sinned; we have all missed the mark. "There is none righteous, no not one." That means that we all need help. None of us can make it on our own.
The mark that God has established for you is perfection. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Then the scripture says none of you are perfect. Now do you agree with that or not? If you don't, your wife does. All of us have sinned, all of us have missed the mark. Even though we may be trying our best to hit the mark, we've come short of the glory of God. And as the result, the soul that sins shall surely die. The wages of sin is death. The loss of fellowship with a holy God.
So, and you who were dead because of your trespasses and sins;
Verse 2
Wherein times past you walked according to the course of this world (2:2),
The word walked here in Greek is a word that should be translated meandered. That is, when you see a person walking you make an assumption he is going someplace and he has a purpose in mind. When you see a person meandering you get the impression he is not really going anywhere and he doesn't have any purpose. He's just sort of wandering, meandering. So this Greek word meander is the word that Paul uses here. It is translated walk. But in times past you were just meandering through life. That is, you really didn't have any real eternal purpose. You were really not going anywhere, you were just existing. But there was no real purpose to your life. In times past you meandered according to the course of this world. The word course has its root meaning in Greek weathervane. That is, whatever way the wind is flowing, that is the way you turn, that is the way you go. So the flow of the world, you just flowed with it. Whatever was the current fashion. Whatever was the current fad, here I am, flowing with it, you know. Everybody is doing it, get on board.
When I was a small fellow I used to often ask my mother if I could go a certain place. Do a certain thing. And if she would say, "No, son, you can't." I would say, "Why, Mom? Everybody is going. Everybody is doing it." And she used to say, "Son, it doesn't make any difference if everybody is doing it or not. If everybody is jumping in the fire, are you going to jump in the fire? As a Christian you're going to have to learn to go against the current. Any dead fish can float down the stream, it takes a live fish to swim against the current." I thank God for that good godly advice from my mother.
In times past we just flowed with the current, the weathervane. As it moved as it meandered. Following the crowd, following the course of the world. Following the fads.
But then Paul gives us an awesome insight, and that is that these fads and fashions of the world are really being directed by none other than Satan.
according to the prince of the power of the air, that even now works in the children of disobedience (2:2):
Now, there may have been a time in the history of the world that a person would challenge the fact that Satan is behind the course or the flow of the world. I don't think that that would be challenged much anymore. As we look at the course of this world, as we look at the way things are going, as we look at the latest rock stars, the latest idols, they have become quite obvious of the bondage and the chains, and of the cruelty, and of the evil by which they are inspired.
In Copenhagen we saw these posters all over town. In fact, I ripped one off and brought it home. I figured it was all right because there were so many around town. I didn't think anybody would miss the one. I really thought it was worthwhile having. I asked the Lord to forgive me. But I ripped off this poster that was there because it was so intriguing. The poster has the picture of a young man, blood all around him, tied with chains, and in big letters, it said, "No escape." That is the message of the young people of Europe today. There is no escape. There is bondage. The world is going down the tube. And there is no escape; that is the world's message to the world.
Paul said, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" They should thank God there is an escape, it has been provided by Jesus Christ. The glorious salvation that He has given to us. But outside of Christ the message is true. To those who want to reject Christ, the message is true; there is no escape. Satan is behind the world's fashions, the trends, directing, orchestrating those destructive, damning forces that we see pervading our society. The increase of immorality, the increase of pornography, the acceptance of abortion, and homosexuality, and these other trends that we see, Satan is behind them orchestrating as he is leading the world to hell. And we at one time were following that course, dead in our trespasses and sins, living an aimless life without purpose as we follow the trends that were being set by Satan. What a sad and tragic picture of man apart from Jesus Christ.
It is interesting to me how that so often people fear the will of God. Having walked in the will of God, I cannot understand why any man would fear it. But Satan has so lied to people about God, about the nature of God, that it has caused people to oftentimes fear submitting their lives to God.
Now, when I was a child growing up in church, so many times I would hear people say, "You be careful what you say you are not going to do, because that is exactly what God is going to make you do. The boogieman will get you, you know." And God was almost a boogieman to us. Just waiting to prove us wrong. You say you are not going to do something, well, you just wait, you know, the moment you yield your life to God, that is exactly what He is going to make you do. And I was fearful of yielding my life to God. There was a lot of things I didn't want to do. And I was fearful that God was going to suddenly start making me do all of these distasteful things that I said I would never do.
What if my son should come to me, and say, "Dad, I have been thinking, I really had a good life, you have always provided a roof over my head, you have always provided food on the table, I always had clothes to wear. And I really appreciate all that you have given to me, Dad, and all that you have done for me. And to show my appreciation, Dad, I just thought that today I would come over and just do whatever you would like me to do for you. Any task that you may have around here, I just would like to spend a day with you, Dad, doing whatever you'd like for me to do." Now, as a dad, do you think that suddenly I would think, "All right, I have got this kid now where I want him. Boy, I had the worst time with him trying to get him to hoe weeds in the backyard." I would say, "Okay, start out in the back yard, that weed patch back there. When you are through with that, wash out the garbage cans." And you think that I would think of every dirty, miserable task around the house and send him to do them? Well, if you think I would think that, you don't know me. I tell you, I would be so shocked if I had one of my sons come and say something like that to me. But pleasantly shocked, that I would want to make that one of the greatest days of his life. A day he wants to share with his dad. Well, why don't we head on down to Huntington and let's spend a little while surfing. And then maybe we can do a little water skiing in the afternoon, and I would be looking for those things that we could really enjoy together. I would be so pleased that he is wanting to do something to please me. I would want to make it a great day.
Now, do you think that our Father is any different? Do you think that when you finally come and say, "Father, I do realize You have been good to me, You have done so much for me. You have blessed me so much, I just want to do whatever You like me to do today, Father. I would like to just commit to You." Somehow we have an impression that God is going to just get all of these dirty, nasty things that we have said we would never do and say, "All right, start here." And God is going to lay some heavy, heavy trip on us just because we submitted ourselves to His will. Not so. You don't know the heavenly Father. You have got a wrong and blasphemous concept of God. Who just delights to spend pleasant days together with you. Who is delighted when He sees you happy and joyful. Who wants to see you enriched in all things in Christ.
Now on the other hand, Jesus said concerning Satan, "That he is come to rob and to kill and to destroy." Satan's purpose for you is your destruction, and so as he is guiding the course of the world, it is a destruction derby. It is a course that is leading to destruction. And yet, people so blindly flow along with it. No worries, no concerns, no consideration, "Talk to me later, man, I'm having too great a time." No time to worry about where the path, the flow is leading. And they seem to have no qualms yielding and flowing with the will of Satan, which will lead to their ultimate destruction. Whereas you talk about so many who say, "When I get to my death bed, maybe, you know, I will consider turning my life over to Him. Now I am too busy. I am having fun. I don't want to commit myself to God." And what a wrong concept people have of what it means to surrender your life to the will of God.
For once a person does, they find as, Jesus said, "I delight to do thy will, O Lord." It becomes the pleasure, the delight, the thrill of our lives. Now, the other people looking at us can't understand that, because they don't know what is going on inside. "You mean you go to church on Sunday evening and you listen to a Bible study? Man." And they don't know the joy that we have in the presence of the Lord as we worship Him and as we sing unto Him our love and our praises and our thanksgiving. And then, as He begins to minister His truth to our heart, and He begins to really speak to us, they don't understand that thrill of God's Word really ministering to our lives and to the things of our lives. And so, looking from the outside in, they can't understand, but once we are on the inside walking in fellowship with God, experiencing His presence and His joy, we understand what it is all about. And it is just a joy and a pleasant delight, to gather with God's people and to just experience God's love and the love within the family of God. And the warmth of God's truth as it just bears witness to our spirits.
But Paul said that we were all once in that boat where Satan was guiding, leading to a shipwreck.
Verse 3
Among whom also we all had our conversation (2:3).
Now the word conversation is an old English word, and we have a new definition for that word today. Conversation, we are talking with each other. This old English word conversation doesn't really give you the true meaning of the Greek word, which is our manner of living. It isn't just our talking, it is our whole manner of life. "Among whom we all had our manner of living, or our lifestyles in times past." What was our lifestyle? Or, what was the manner of life that we lived? What kind of a life were we living?
We were living
in the lust of our flesh, as we were fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; as we were by nature the children of wrath, even as the others (2:3).
That is, we were living by the lower nature, the animal nature, living after the lust of our flesh, and the lust of our minds. These are the things that were the motivation behind our lives. These are the things that governed our lives in the past. My life was ruled and dominated by the lust of my flesh and by the lust of my mind. I spent my life trying to satisfy my fleshly desires.
We read concerning Solomon the king, as he was trying to find meaning in life how that he pursued so many different directions. First of all, he thought that it must lie in riches, which often many people feel. And so he began to amass to himself wealth until he was the richest man in the world, and silver was as common as rocks in Israel. And if you've ever been to Jerusalem, you know how common rocks are around that city. It is the rockiest city in the world. Imagine in Solomon's day when silver was as common as rocks. And he said, "I looked at all of the wealth and I said, 'How dies the rich man like the fool, this is emptiness.' And so I gave myself to understanding and to wisdom, I said, 'The answer must lie in knowing,' and so I applied myself to wisdom until I was the smartest man in the world. How dies the wise man as a fool, this too is empty, it doesn't satisfy. And so I said, 'It must lie in leaving great monuments,' and so I applied myself to building, and I built all of these great monuments around Jerusalem, and when I looked at all of these great buildings and all I said, 'This too is empty; it doesn't satisfy.'" Until he finally concluded that life was empty and frustrating, there was nothing worthwhile under the sun, that is, after it says, "and all that I did not withhold from myself anything that my heart desired." You see, after the total indulgence of the lust of his flesh, not withholding anything from himself, he came to the conclusion life is empty and frustrating; there is nothing worthwhile under the sun. Sort of concluding, you might as well bomb out and stay drunk, there is nothing else, too much pain to try to face reality.
Sort of the philosophy that a lot of people have taken today. They have tried everything. They have jaded themselves. They have run the full ten yards, it is still empty. You might as well just, you know, get into a fuzz of drugs or into the folly of liquor, because there is no sense in trying to be sober. Reality is hopeless. Isn't that what existential philosophy pretty much declares? That reality will lead to despair, therefore you cannot face reality. You have got to take the leap of faith into the second story and hope that you land on something.
You have got to just hope that you can have some kind of satisfying experience of truth. Because if you face reality, truth doesn't exist, and thus you will only end in despair. There we were, tripping right along with the crowd, as they were trying to satisfy the lust of their flesh, and the lust of their mind. For we were by nature, that is, we were doing what comes naturally to the fallen man. "We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." The fallen nature of man, which is dominated by his flesh, and thus is ruled by his fleshly desires. That is the natural man, apart from Jesus Christ, and you, black is this picture that Paul paints of you and of me.
Verse 4. Now he takes this canvas in which he has painted all of this charcoal slate black, and he begins to splash on it some brilliant colors.
Verse 4
But God (2:4),
In contrast to the blackness of my own past, now God
who is rich in mercy (2:4),
Brilliant colors flashed across this black background.
Verses 4–5
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins (2:4-5),
God commended His love towards us even that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. Herein is love. Not that we love God, but that God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him does not perish but has everlasting life. "But God, rich in His mercy, in His love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins." When did God start loving you? So many times we think that God started loving us when we started being loving. When we started being sweet and kind, and you know, generous and good, and when we started just living such a perfect life, God said, "My, isn't that lovely? Aren't they perfect? My, I love them." When did God start loving you? When we were still dead in our trespasses and sins God loved us.
God has loved you from eternity, there has never been a time when God didn't love you. There will never be a time when God doesn't love you. But God who is rich in His mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead has made us alive. Now it is here in the Greek text, finally we have got it.
Verse 5
he has made us alive together with Christ, (for by grace you are saved;) (2:5)
So I was once dead because of the trespasses and sins, but through Jesus Christ God has provided the forgiveness of my trespasses and sins. So with the psalmist in Psalm 32, I can say, "Oh how happy is the man, whose transgressions are forgiven. Oh how happy is the man whose sins are covered. When I tried to hide my guilt I was miserable. The hand of God was heavy on my life. I thought I was going to die. But then I confessed my sin and God forgave me my sin completely. Oh how good it is to have God's forgiveness. Oh how happy is the man."
And so God provided the way for the forgiveness of our sins, and having forgiven us our sins we became alive in the spirit, or were born again. Our first birth, the natural life was of the flesh. I was born in a body of flesh, and from the beginning my fleshly appetites were dominating me. I was a pretty good little kid until my fleshly appetites took over, and then I began to yell until they took care of feeding me. And sometimes if they didn't feed me when I wanted to be fed, I would flail and kick and scream and holler. I was a natural man, dominated by my fleshly needs. Some people never grow beyond that stage. They are still natural men, dominated by their fleshly needs, and if they don't find satisfaction they scream and holler and yell and flail and kick.
But I was born again by the Spirit of God, a spiritual birth. A new life, I no longer relate back to Adam, my father after the flesh. But I now relate back to Jesus Christ, my Father after the Spirit. I have been born again by the Spirit of God through Jesus Christ. And now this spiritual birth, my spirit is now alive, and with my spirit alive I now have fellowship with God. I have been joined back together with God through the Spirit. And His Spirit is bearing witness with my spirit that I am His child, and because of His Spirit bearing witness with my spirit I cry Abba, I cry Father. Very naturally. And I worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
And so He has made us alive, alive spiritually, for by grace are we saved. That is, we don't deserve it. That is, we can't earn it. There is no work that you can do that can make you alive spiritually. That is not the result of some great effort on my part. That is not the result of killing the seven-headed dragon and grabbing the three golden apples. But it is by grace, God's glorious gift of love to me. By grace are you saved.
Verse 6
Now, not only has He made me alive,
But he has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (2:6):
Or in the heavenlies. You notice places is italicized.
So it's far more than just saving me from my sins, it is making me alive unto God and then raising me up into the heavenly levels. Where God now seats me together in Christ in these heavenly places, or in the heavenlies. This new walk and life that I have in the Spirit, this resurrected life of Jesus Christ. The purpose:
Verse 7
That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, and his kindness toward us, through Christ Jesus (2:7).
Now, notice verse 5, "with Christ," verse 6, "in Christ Jesus," verse 7, "through Christ Jesus." All of these things that God has done, He has done for us, in, and through, and by Jesus Christ.
Now the glorious future that awaits us, as Paul prayed in chapter 1, and we studied last week. He prayed that they might know what is the hope of their calling. God has called you to be His child. You know what that means? That means throughout the endless ages to come you are going to be dwelling with God in His eternal kingdom as God is revealing unto you the exceeding richness of His mercy and of His kindness towards you through Christ Jesus.
The psalmist said, "As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high is God's mercies towards those who fear Him." And God throughout eternity is going to be revealing the exceeding greatness of His mercy and of His kindness, these things that He has given and provided and done for you through Jesus Christ. You will never discover it all. Eternity isn't long enough. Throughout all eternity, God's grace and love and mercy being revealed.
Verse 8
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves (2:8):
What not of yourselves? Faith. You say, "Well, I believe God. Look at me, I believe." No, no. That not of yourself, the faith didn't come from you.
Even the faith
was the gift of God (2:8):
Do you remember when the Midianites had covered the land like grasshoppers? Were ripping off the crops from the children of Israel, they were hiding their food in caves and all. And Gideon was in a cave as he was threshing the wheat to hide from the Midianites, and the angel of the Lord came to him and said, "Gideon, go and deliver the children of Israel from the oppression of the Midianites." And he said, "Who are you? And you have got the wrong address. My father is a nobody and I am the least in my father's household. You can't be meaning me." And the Lord said, "Yes, I do mean you." "Well, I would like to know that for sure. Let me put out a fleece of wool. And in the morning if it is wet and the ground is dry, then I will know that it is you." And so in the morning when the fleece was wet and the ground was dry, he said, "Now I want to make sure about this. Tomorrow morning let the ground be wet and the fleece dry." I might be stumbling onto a phenomena of nature that I don't understand. But the morning when it was reversed, then he came to the realization that it was God.
And he blew the trumpet in Israel and gathered together 32,000 men to face the 135,000 Midianites. And God said Gideon, "The men that are with you are too many, because I know the heart of this people. And if I would deliver the Midianites into the hands of the 32,000, they would go around glorying in themselves. So go out and tell all of the men who are afraid to go to war to go home." Gideon went out and faced his troops and said, "All right, all of you that are afraid to go to battle, you can go on home." Twenty-two thousand of them turned on their heal and left. Left him with 10,000 men to face the 135,000 Midianites. And the Lord said, "Gideon." "Yes, Lord." "The men that are with you are too many. I know the heart of this people. If I would deliver the Midianites in the hands of the 10,000, they would go around boasting in themselves and glorying in themselves. Take them down to the stream and let them get a drink of water. And all of those that get down and put their face in the water, send them home. Those that pick it up in their hands and drink out of the hands, then with these will I deliver the Midianites into the hands of Israel." And Gideon took them down to the stream and 9,700 of them got down on their knees and put their face in the water and began to drink and 300 of them picked it up in their hands. And so Gideon took the 300. Now, what was the purpose of God? To keep the men from glorying or boasting in what God was going to do.
Verse 9
It is not of works, lest any man should boast (2:9).
You see, God knows the tendency of our old nature to want to receive glory. That's a part of that sinful nature, that is the very thing that tripped up Satan. "I'm going to exalt my throne above the stars of heaven. I'm going to sit in the congregation in the sides of the north. I'm going to ascend into the heights. I will be like the Most High. I want people to recognize and worship and glory in me." "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" (Isaiah 14:12) Who did exalt thyself," looking for glory.
God knows that is a part of our nature, and therefore He placed salvation outside of our capacity, outside of our ability. He made our salvation on the basis of His grace, His work, His work through Jesus Christ and my believing that work. And then He gave me the faith to believe it. He drew me unto Himself, placed the faith in my heart to believe His truth, and granted unto me through His grace this glorious gift of eternal life. "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God." That faith by which you were saved. "It is not of works, [your salvation,] lest any man should boast."
Verse 10
For we are his workmanship (2:10),
The Greek word translated workmanship is poiema, from which we get our English word poem. You are His work. You are His poem. A poem is a thing of grace, a thing of beauty. God wants your life to be a thing of grace and a thing of beauty. And as God works in your life, it will become a thing of grace and of beauty; you are His poem.
The poet seeks to express Himself in beautiful terms. He seeks to express beauty in attractive terms. God is seeking to express Himself, and your life becomes that expression as God works in you. You are His work, as God works in your life conforming you into the image of Jesus Christ, you then become the revelation of God to the world around you--the expression of God.
Jesus, it says, was the express image of His glory. He said one day to His disciples, "If you have seen the Father you have seen Me," or . . . "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father," rather. Philip said, "Show us the Father and we will be satisfied." "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. How sayest thou then, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? And the works that I do, I do not of Myself, but of the Father that dwells in Me, He doeth the works. Believest thou then that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe for the very works' sake" (John 14:8-11).
So God wants you to be the expression of Himself to this world. And that is the purpose of God's work in your life, to conform you into the image of Jesus Christ. Now, as we get to the fourth chapter of Ephesians, Paul will tell us that God has appointed in the church pastor-teachers, evangelists, prophets, apostles, and not in that order. He put pastor-teachers last, but I like to reverse the order since I am a pastor-teacher.
But their purpose was for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ until we all came into the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, unto the complete or fully mature man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of the image of Christ. You see, this is God's work in you: conform you into the image of Christ.
Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said, "We all, with open face as we behold the glory of the Lord, are being changed from glory to glory even into that same image" (II Corinthians 3:18). God expressing Himself through you as God knocks off the rough edges and as God smoothes out those rough spots. His whole purpose of His work in my life is to conform me into the image of Christ, that He might reveal Himself through me to the world. His love through me, His grace through me, His kindness through me.
Now, a lot of the times as God is doing His work in me and He begins to chip off some of those clumsy edges, I begin to scream. I don't always like that work of God. But it is important that I submit to that work of God. I don't always understand it, "Lord, why did You chip that one off? I thought that it looked pretty good." I don't always understand why certain hard places have come into my life, but God is working. It is important that I know this. Because as I know this, then I can yield to these things, and I don't fight them. I say, "Lord, my life is Yours." If any man suffers according to the will of God, let him commit the keeping of his soul unto Him as a wise Creator. "God, my life is in Your hands. You do what You know best and what You see best. Lord, I accept these things that are coming my way. You work, Lord, Your work in me, that You might reveal Yourself through me."
You are His poiema.
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (2:10).
God has already determined, foreordained, that work that you are to accomplish for His glory. God has a plan and a purpose for your life.
You remember when Mordecai sent the message into Esther after she had said, "I can't just go in and see my husband any time I want. We have got laws here in Persia, and unless he calls me, I really can't go into see him. And if I would presume to go in and see him, if he doesn't hold the golden scepter, they will take my head off." And her cousin Mordecai sent back a message and said, "How do you know but what God hasn't brought you into the kingdom for such a time as this?" The whole background, the beauty contest where she was chosen to be the new queen, the deposing of the old queen Vashti and all of these circumstances. "How do you know that God isn't working and hasn't been working all of the way through up to this point to prepare you for this precise moment in history to bring deliverance for God's people? Now don't think within yourself that if this edict goes through you are going to escape, or that the edict can actually go through, for deliverance will arise from another quarter, God is going to do His work." But you will be the loser if God has chosen to use you to do that work and you fail.
So God has been preparing you. How do you know but this isn't what God has been preparing you for? As God works in our life, we can know that God has a purpose and a plan. He doesn't just work happenstance in us. It isn't just some kind of a capricious act of God that I have been through these severe testings or trials. It is a part of God's plan in preparing me to do the work that God has already decided that I should do for the glory of His kingdom.
So I can look back in my life and I can see how God was preparing me and working in me to prepare me for this place that I am today. I can go back, all the way back, actually, to my birth and even before my birth, to see how God had His hand upon my life even in the prenatal state. As He was preparing me for the work that He wanted me to accomplish for His glory some day. I can see that preparation in my early childhood as God gave me such a godly mother, who before I was born, when my sister, for all practical purposes, had died, made a covenant with God and said, "God, if You will spare my little daughter's life, if You will give me my little girl back to me, I will serve You and minister for You the rest of my life." And how God miraculously healed my sister instantly and brought her back to life, she started breathing again. And two months later when I was born, my mother said, "Father, I will fulfill my vow to You through my son. I will dedicate him to serve You."
Thus, from my earliest memories my mother was teaching me to memorize the scriptures. Following me around when I played, she let me be a normal boy. Play ball and everything else, but as I was a child she would follow me around having me recite scriptures. Bedtime I never heard of Goldilocks or Red Riding Hood until I grew up. But I knew all about David, and Moses, and Joshua and Paul. These were my bedtime stories. God was preparing.
Our early years of ministry, those times of great frustration, those times of failure, those times of hardship, those times of learning to trust God for the evening meal. When we would be absolutely, that is an overstatement, when we would be almost broke, because one night when we came right down to it, we were almost broke. We went through Kay's purses and my pants pockets and our dresser drawers, and we did find thirty-seven cents. And we headed out to the store with thirty-seven cents to buy our evening meal.
Challenged by how nutritious a meal that we could purchase for thirty-seven cents. How balanced and nutritious, it was a real challenge, and we made it. We had a bunch of carrots and a can of pork and beans. And when we laid them on the counter the guy totaled them up he said, "Thirty-seven cents." I had it figured out. I laid the cash on the counter and we started out the door. And he called us back, and he said, "I am sorry. I have been intending for a long time to do something for you kids, and here, I want you to take this," and he reached under the counter and gave us a ten dollar grocery certificate. I told Kay, "Let's go over to the meat counter." And I said to Kay to pick out two of the best t-bones, God is treating tonight. We are going to eat steak.
God was in it. God was preparing us to trust Him for the evening meal. Preparing us to just believe in Him and to know that He would supply the needs. Teaching us to be careful and frugal with His funds. Teaching us to be wise and careful as we spent His funds. All of it was important and necessary preparation, for God had in mind the whole while the ministry that we are experiencing today. I didn't have any idea what God had in mind. I had ambitions; hopefully one day I would have a church of 250 people, that was my great ambition in life. I was tired of little churches of under a hundred, because they could never support the needs of the family. So I worked as Paul, laboring with my own hands so that we would not be chargeable to the churches.
When we first began Calvary Chapel we worked, laboring with our own hands. And I was prepared to continue to work, but God had other things in mind--far and above anything we had ever dreamed. The work that God has in mind for you to do for Him.
Now, I do believe that we can check out of God's program if we desire. I think that we can say, "Okay Lord, that is it. I have had it. I don't want to go through this anymore. I am going to take another path." I think that we can actually miss out on that plan of God that He has ordained for our future. Not that we are going to miss salvation, don't misunderstand me now. That is not the issue at all. The issue is God's perfect plan for your life, the work that God has before ordained that you should accomplish for His glory. I think that you can miss that. If you rebel against the work that God is seeking to do in your life today to prepare you for the work. I do believe that God does prepare the instrument before He uses the instrument.
It is the days of preparation we often despise, though the Bible tells us, "Do not despise the days of preparation." The days of the small things, "Lord, I want to get on to the big things, the big work You have got." No, no. It is necessary that God first work in me before God can work through me. That is why we are told in the scriptures to count it all joy when we go through some real hard testings. That is why we are told to rejoice in tribulation for God is working in you, because God wants to work through you. He has got a plan for you, the work that He wants you to accomplish. Now, I don't think that I have arrived, I think that God has yet to do greater work for me to accomplish for His glory. It is exciting to me each day to see the new opportunities that God brings into our path, in the expanding of the ministry as we seek to do His work. So God still prepares man. I haven't arrived by a long shot, but I am on the way. One day when I do arrive, I will look around and I will see Paul and John, and I will be in glory. When I have apprehended that for which I have been apprehended. Paul was very conscious of the fact that when the Lord called him, God had a plan in mind and he said, "I am not yet apprehended that for which I was apprehended." Still on the road.
There is still something to be done, God still has a purpose and a work for me yet to fulfill. When I have completed, when I have apprehended that for which I was apprehended, do you think God is going to leave me in this sin-cursed world any longer? No, He loves me too much. He is going to take me to be with Him in the eternal glories of His kingdom.
Verse 11
Wherefore remember, that you in time past as a Gentile in the flesh, were called the Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands (2:11);
So remember as a Gentile you were totally excluded by the Jews. Excluded to salvation.
Verse 12
That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangera from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world (2:12):
Now he is going back again. You, before the coming of Jesus Christ into your life--a real separation, a real wall between you and God, you and the people of God. You were without Christ, you were an alien and strangers from the covenants of promise and you had no hope, for you were without God in the world. That is one of the saddest, most tragic pictures of mankind. No hope, without God in the world, without Christ, without hope, without God.
It is a tragic thing to try to exist in a hopeless state. One of the greatest things the Bible does for us, it gives us hope, even in a world that is deteriorating around us, there is hope. In fact, the more the world deteriorates the greater the hope becomes.
Do you know what is the latest conclusion of the most brilliant economists in the world? Do you know that they declare to be the only hope for the world at this point? They are now declaring that the only hope for the world is a unified monetary system. In their latest writings, publications, they are beginning to espouse this as the only salvation for the world. The only hope for the world is a unified monetary system, worldwide. That is the only thing that will cause mankind to lay down their arms, because we will all realize that we are having the economic problems in trying to build these tremendous armaments and we'll all be joined together in an economic endeavor to make the world a better place. So we have got to have a unified monetary worldwide monetary system.
Interesting that they would come upon that as the only hope of the world. And when that is established they will be hailing that as the salvation of the world. It is interesting for us as children of God to realize that the Bible says, that is exactly what we will be established by the antichrist and will cause him to be hailed as the savior of the world, is when he brings to pass a unified, monetary system worldwide. And so the world is talking about these things and, "This is our only hope, and we can't do this. And we've had it and all." And they are without hope, really, because whoever could put together a worldwide unified monetary system and while they are talking about the doom and gloom we are saying, "All right it is getting close. As soon as they get that thing integrated, I am going to be gone." We have this glorious hope in Christ. For the world is without Christ, it is without hope. Where it is without God, it is without hope.
Verse 13
But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off you've been brought nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ (2:13).
You were once an alien; now you have been made a part of the family of God. You were once a stranger; now you are at home in the kingdom.
Verse 14
For he is our peace (2:14),
Not, "He will bring us peace." He is our peace.
who has made both one (2:14),
That is, both the Jew and the Greek, or the Jew and the Gentile, He has made us both one.
Verses 14–15
and broke down that wall of partition that used to separate us; having abolished in his flesh that enmity that once existed, even the law of commandments contained in the ordinances; in order that he may make in himself of the two one new man, so making peace (2:14-15);
So Jesus took the two diverse and divergent systems, the Jew who was trying to under the law to be righteous before God, and failing; the Gentile who was totally alienated because he wasn't even close by way of the law. And this tremendous difference that existed between the Jew under the law, and the Gentile without a law, both of them failing to please God or to come into fellowship with God. And Jesus broke down this barrier, this wall that existed between man and mankind and He has made it all one in Him. So Jesus the common denominator, and He is one way by which man can come to God. The Gentile apart from the law, the Jew within the law system, all have to come this new route that Jesus has established. So that as we all come by the same path through Jesus Christ, we become one. And no longer does this great difference exist between the Jew and the Gentile. So in making from the two, one new man and thus, He has made peace.
Verse 16
That he might reconcile both unto God in the one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby (2:16):
Or, in the cross He fulfilled the law. The righteous demands of the law were fulfilled in the death of Jesus Christ. The law righteously demanded that the sinning soul should die. Now, under the ordinances they had the provision that they could take an animal as a substitute and thus cover their sins. But the righteousness of the law had to be satisfied. It was satisfied in the death of Jesus Christ, and so there He brought an end to the law and its authority over man, because the law has now been totally satisfied through His death. And now through His death He has reconciled both--that is, the Jew who could not keep the law, or the Gentile who had no relationship to the law. We have both been reconciled to God in one body of Christ by the cross, and there He put an end to this enmity that existed between the two.
Verse 17
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to them which were close (2:17).
The same message He preaches to all men. Whether you were far, or near.
Verse 18
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father (2:18).
"There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5). And you have no access to God apart from Jesus Christ. And I don't care how I am accused of being narrow in that statement. I am only stating to you what the scriptures declare.
You can only have access to God through Jesus Christ. Yes, it is a straight gate and it is a narrow path, but it leads to eternal life. Broad is the gate, and broad is the path that leads to destruction, and many go in. There is the flow, the flow of the world. But straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to eternal life and few there be that find it. So Christ has made the way by which man can come to God, it is a road that is marked by blood, but it brings us into fellowship and in communion with the Father.
Verse 19
So you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you have been made a fellow citizen with the saints, and of the household of God (2:19);
So it is not only Christ settling down and making Himself at home in your hearts, but you just being a part of the household of God, at home with God.
Verse 20
And you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets (2:20),
Now, these are not the prophets of the Old Testament, but the prophets in the New Testament church. We are not really built upon the foundation of the apostles. They are not the foundation upon which we are built, but we are built upon the message of the apostles. That is the foundation. Paul said, "No other foundation have we then this which is all ready laid, which is Jesus Christ."
Peter said, "You are the messiah the son of the living God," and Jesus said, "That is good Peter. God revealed that to you, and upon this rock I am going to build my church."
He is the foundation upon which we are built, the message of the apostles and the prophets, that God has provided salvation through Jesus Christ. And that He is the way by which we might come to God. That is the foundation, laid by the apostles and the prophets in their teaching and in their ministry.
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone (2:20);
God is building a habitation for Himself. A body in which to dwell, the body of Christ. The body of believers. I become a part of that building of God. You remember Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst." We are the building of God. We have been built upon that foundation laid by the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone upon which this building is built. You remember that Peter, standing before the Sanhedrin, quoted that particular Psalm 118 referring to Jesus Christ. He said, "This is the stone which was set of nought by you builders but the same has become the chief cornerstone, this is the work of God it is marvelous in our eyes," Psalm 118. Christ the chief cornerstone. He was the stone that was set of nought by the builders. They rejected Him. He came to His own and His own received Him not. Those leaders of the Jewish religion rejected the chief cornerstone.
There is an interesting story that in the building of the temple of Solomon, you remember not the sound of an axe or a hammer was heard, no sound of iron, but all of the stones quarried away from the building, carried to the building perfectly carved out and then just set in without even the use of mortar. Perfectly carved and fit together. So they had the architect and he drew the blueprints for each stone, and they would mark them and put them in their position within the temple as they were building it. And the story goes that there came from the quarry a stone that did not have its mark, and so the builders could not figure where the stone went. So they finally just cast it aside, figured it was a mistake from the quarry. When the temple was complete, they sent to the quarry and they said, "Where is the chief cornerstone?" The quarry sent back and said, "We already sent it along time ago." They sent back and said, "We have not received it. It is not here." They said, "We have got our invoice and you signed it. It is there." Finally, over in the bushes that had grown over the thing, someone dug it out and said, "There is a stone over here, could this be it?" Sure enough, it was the chief cornerstone of the building that the builders had neglected and cast aside. And they found out this is the one it fits; it is the chief cornerstone.
So Jesus Christ, set of nought by the religious leaders, by the builders, but God has made Him to be the chief cornerstone. This is the work of God. It is marvelous in our eyes, and neither is there salvation, Peter said, in any other, because there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. The chief cornerstone upon which the whole thing is built.
Verse 21
In whom all of the building is fitly framed and grows unto the holy temple in the Lord (2:21):
So when you have Christ, building on Him, the whole building goes together fitly framed together the holy temple in the Lord.
Verse 22
In whom ye also are built together as the house of God through the Spirit (2:22).
Again, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst. The house of God where He comes to dwell among His people. How glorious it is to be able to gather together with the family of God and to experience the presence of Jesus Christ and the power of God's Spirit as He is working to build this habitation, not a physical building, but our lives that are being knit together, fit together in this whole plan of God, this glorious building where God will reveal Himself to His people, and through His people to the world.
Thank you, Father, for that wonderful work of your Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. For that grace whereby we were saved. For Your work in us as You prepare us to do Your work, for Your Spirit drawing us near when we were without hope and was without Christ, and was without God in this world. For making us a part of the family of God. Fitting us together as we are built upon Christ. Oh Lord, You are beautiful, and we love Your work. Amen.
You are His workmanship created together in Christ Jesus unto the good works that God has foreordained that you should walk in them. God has a plan for your life this week. God is working in you. God wants to work through you. As you yield yourself, your lives to God, you will begin to discover that which God intended and purposed for you to do for His glory. But you can only discover it by yielding to Him.
As a potter works with the clay, and as he begins his work with the clay, in his mind he has a vessel that he intends to make out of that lump of clay. To take that shapeless bit of mud and to carefully work with it until he forms a vessel that he has in his mind to form from this bit of clay. So God takes your life as a bit of clay and has in His mind a vessel that He wishes to form in order that it might perform a specific work or function. God knows exactly what function He wants you to fulfill within the body.
Now that clay has really no choice of its destiny. Nor does it have necessarily any knowledge of its destiny until, as the potter begins to form it, it can begin to understand what its destiny is going to be as you begin to look at its shape. I begin to realize that God is preparing me for this, or is preparing me for that, and I begin to understand what God is preparing me for as I see the thing take form and take shape. But the only way I can really discover what God has in mind for me is to remain completely yielded to His touch. The moment I resist and stiffen, the work will be marred in the hands of the potter, and many times He has to start all over again. Take that piece of clay, and here I go again back to zero. I hope I listen this time. The wheel starts turning, "Oh Lord, what are you doing now?" Boy, how many times I was back to zero. Just a blob again. But in time we learn that the potter knows best. Just to yield our lives to the touch of God. To let God work in us, that we might do the work that He has planned for us.
So God bless you as He works in your life this week. Making of you an instrument that He might use to bring glory to His name.