In the 2nd chapter of Pauls writings to the Ephesians, the reality of UNMERITED FAVOR, UNMERITED FREE GIFTS, UNMERITED GRACE is GREATLY REVEALED AND SEEN IN VISUAL FORM. We see the power of God at work in the works and redeeming steps of Christ from the Cross to the Throne and how those works, HIS WORKS and TRAVELS from the Cross to the Throne Blessed us and Effected Us. In all that light we also see the VERY foundation of what was meant by Paul in Colossians 2:10) wherein we read these beautiful words of assurance, "And you are COMPLETE in Him (In Christ)." That word COMPLETE here means the full measure reached as to be able to SIT DOWN and ENTER INTO REST. It means NOTHING LACKING. It also means YOU HAVE ARRIVED. You need not go elsewhere. Your fully clothed. YOU ARE COMPLETE. So with our minds fastened right now on the words of Paul that say WE ARE COMPLETE IN CHRIST, let us go to Ephesian 2:1-10 right now and study the actual foundational platform of Pauls God given wisdom from which those words were launched. In Ephesians 2 vs 1, Paul being COMPLETE IN CHRIST MINDED and RISEN WITH CHRIST MINDED (Colossians 3:1-4) as revealed to him by Christ (Galations 1:11-12), Paul immediately sets the stage for his revelation that eternal life and salvation is the GIFT OF GOD and not of THE WORKS of the Law performed by men. Lets notice what he said. vs1) And you God has....woe....let's stop right there and lets let those words sink in, grip and lay holt on to our thinking....What did we read? "And you GOD HAS....And you GOD HAS.....GOD HAS......GOD HAS..... I like that. He did not say that the world has done something. He did not start out saying that we have done something. He did not write about the accomplishments that we have done thru our deeds or works of the law or of natural human kindness. No, Paul starts out saying immediately what God himself HAS DONE and that which GOD HAS DONE he reveals has all been wrought FOR US and has been done TO US who BELIEVE and BELONG to CHRIST. He said AND YOU GOD HAS MADE ALIVE..... God, Paul said, has made us alive. Externally in the flesh these words make no natural sense and cannot be (in the natural logic and reasoning of the fleshes carnal mind understood properly, nor connected to. But when we depart from the mind of the flesh and enter into the mind of the spirit, and into the understanding zone of the reality of our spirit within the flesh (James 2:26), it is then and only THERE these words make sense and fully connect to us their light and meaning.....So with our spirit, the hidden man of the heart (1 Peter 3:4) on the forefront of our thinking lets read it again. But the Lord says hold on a second, there is more I want said first before........ (Remember God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship, sup, and fellowship with Him in Spirit and in Truth. Remember John in the book of Revelations said, and immediately I was IN THE SPIRIT and in the Spirit I SAW and I HEARD. We to (now), must in our minds understanding, BE NOW SPIRIT MINDED and zoned in the spirit, to understand these words of Paul concerning the spirit of man and how Christ from the Cross to the Throne blessed and effected him (OUR SPIRIT). Not our flesh, but our spirit man, THE REAL MAN in heaven. The man that lives on when the body has itself died. The part Jesus called the Son of Man that is in heaven. This was a heavenly thing of HIS SPIRIT. Every day Jesus' Spirit was in the kingdom of God, in the Holy Ghost, totally walking with and in perfect contact and fully in tuned to His Father who was ON THE THRONE, but was also WITHIN HIM. The Father is in Me, Jesus said, and i am in the Father. When we pray, our Father which art IN HEAVEN, we in the Spirit are IN the HEAVENLY REALM OF GOD THE FATHER at the Throne in the Spirit and HIS SPIRIT is in us. We two have become ONE SPIRIT. God is with us in the spirit on earth, and we are with the Lord in heaven in the spirit. Remember Jesus said, Fear not those that can kill the body but after that have no power. But fear Him who is able to kill both the body and THE SOUL/SPIRIT in hell. Jesus knows the difference between the flesh of man and the spirit of man. After all we were designed and created by him, BY JESUS CHRIST. Hebrews 1:1-3, Colossians 1:16-17, John 1:1-14. Jesus said HIS WORDS were spirit, of the Spirit of God and for the spirit of man. He said MY WORDS that I speak are spirit and they are life. They are life giving and they give life and they MAKE ALIVE the spirit. The flesh they are not about. Jesus also taught that heavenly things, things of Gods Spirit and things of Angels spirits, and things of mans spirit and soul and of heaven ARE REAL. He called the spirit of man *MAN* in John 3. He said unless Mans spirit is born again (THAT MEANS RE MADE ALIVE) then that soul & spirit cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. SO we see in this that being born again, ( being made alive in the spirit ) AN ENTRANCE COMES WITH IT. So being more spirit within minded lets now approach our text of Ephesians 2:1-10. I feel God wanted those extra words above and their light stated before we went further. And you (YOUR SPIRIT MAN INSIDE YOU) God has MADE ALIVE. As people who believe and belong to Christ, our inner man, the hidden man of the hearth, THE SPIRIT OF OUR BEING (James 2:26) that lives on beyond the bodies death is A NEW CREATURE (2 Corinth 5:16-17). This means something beautiful and wonderful has happened to him our INNER MAN and this new making of Him as a NEW CREATION means that he is BY GOD beautifully and wonderfully made and has been MADE ALIVE.....more to come in lesson #2.....deno......share freely.
It is written for our edification that Abraham believed what God said and promised to him and God "the highest authority" accounted Abrahams faith, HIS BELIEVING, as HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Paul revealed to us in his writings that Abraham was called righteous before God (BY GOD HIMSELF) by his faith BEFORE THE LAW WAS EVER GIVEN and before he was even circumcised, and that his circumcision was a work of his faith that he ALREADY HAD when he was not yet circumcised. So as it is written in the scriptures that cannot fail in truth in Romans 14:23...whatsoever is done not in faith IS SIN. Abrahams heart was believing, was already in faith before and when the foreskin of his flesh was cut. Believing, the believing of the heart is to God a PRIORITY THING. Even as it is written in Hebrews 11:6) Without faith (the believing of the heart) it is impossible to please God. And what is faith? Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is a spiritual substance. It is the substance of things hoped for and it is the assurance of things not seen. It is the assurance of the heart that what I have been told is true and I BELIEVE IT. Isaiah the prophet foreseeing by the Holy Ghost the gospel to come said "Who has BELIEVED our report? And to whom has the Arm of the Lord been revealed? (Isaiah 53) The arm of the Lord is Christ and His gospel. Jesus said in Mark 16:15 -16) Go into all the world to all the nations and PREACH THE ARM OF THE LORD (THE GOSPEL) to EVERY CREATURE. The ones that BELIEVE and are baptized SHALL BE SAVED.....but the ones that do not believe the good report shall be damned. (Unbelief is so powerful and that it can stop the mercy of God, the redeeming saving power of God that is in the CROSS OF RIGHT to not be able to do anything for those of unbelief, for those who do not believe. This is also confirmed in Hebrews 4:3) For unto us was the gospel (THE ARM OF THE LORD) preached, as well as unto them; but the WORD preached did not PROFIT THEM, not being MIXED WITH FAITH in them that heard it preached. The prophet Habakkuk also spoke of faith and unbelief in his words in Habakkuk 1:5) The Lord said...Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do a work in your days that you will not believe even though it is told you. This was spoken of the fact that the Lord of heaven, The Son of God by whom God made the worlds (Hebrews 1:1-5), The Word Himself WAS GOING TO BECOME FLESH (John 1:14) and dwell on earth in Israel. Then at the appointed time be revealed as the Lord by the Spirit of the Lord given him without measure as seen in three years filled with miracle after miracle of signs and wonders and healing and miracles. His Word the bible says was WITH POWER. Yet despite all the signs and the wonders that no other man ever did, still yet most of Israel eventually turned away from Jesus in unbelief just as their forefathers did in the wilderness after seeing the MIGHTY SIGNS GOD WROUGHT when he delivered them with HIS STRONG ARM from Pharaoh and Egypt. The scriptures declare, they saw the miracles, they saw the Sea divide and they walked in the midst thereof on dry ground. Then on the other side they saw the army of Egypt pursuing them and they saw the STRONG ARM OF THE LORD LIFTED and the waters fell heavily upon their enemies. What a sight. Still yet a few weeks later their hearts lost faith and in their hearts the scriptures say they went backwards in unbelief (THE GOLDEN CALF SIN of UNBELIEF) and God became angry with that generation. In His displeasure God made all that generation die off before He allowed their children to enter into the promise land. Paul by the Holy Ghost wrote of a similar departure of those who once believed (THE GOSPEL) falling backwards into unbelief in the LAST DAYS. 2 Thessalonians 2:3) As he wrote by the foreseeing eyes of the Lord in him he said of the second coming of the Lord...Let no man deceive you by any means, for THAT DAY shall not happen until their first comes a FALLING AWAY FIRST, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. In 1st Timothy 4:1) we hear these words of Paul again saying....The Spirit of the Lord speaks expressly that in the latter times some will depart from the faith (from the truth of the gospel) giving heed to truth seducing spirits and their deceiving doctrines. Friends let us not be partakers of this falling away (THE MOVE OF UNBELIEF) from the Lord that occurs in the last days by some. For Hebrews 3:12-14 warns and exhorts us concerning this matter. It reads, vs 12) Take heed brethren lest there be in any of you AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF in departing from the living God (Christ Risen from the dead). 13) But exhort one another each day, while you have TODAY, lest your faith grows cold thru the effects of the deceitfulness of sin. 14) For we are MADE PARTAKERS of Christ, IF we remain fastened firmly to Christ our confidence from the beginning all the way to the finish line. And what do we hold firm to no matter what happens in this world. We believe and hold firm to our faith, believing that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. That Jesus is the Lord. That He is the Christ the Son of the loving and living God and that He went to the Cross and bled and died for our sins and three days later God raised Jesus from the dead and raised him back up into glory itself and sat him down at His own right hand as the STRONG SAVING ARM OF THE LORD. And that he is going to return the next time in great power and glory from the heavens with the mighty angels to deliver us with His Strong Arms Again in a greater measure than what the dividing of the Red Sea preached concerning eternal redemption. This our hearts believe and this faith is counted unto us as OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS as Abrahams was in his walk by faith in his life time (Read Romans 10:1-17).. This gospel truth we believe in our heart in all we do in the name of the Lord everyday, and in the work God has called us unto, and everywhere God sends us and everywhere we go......deno.....share freely.
This is much of the core of what the Spirit of the Lord is doing and
will be doing in the world and in us the church in these last days....2
Corinthians 10:3-6)...vs 5) With the Holy Ghost and Fire God will be Casting down imaginations (fantasies,
theories, presumptions, worldly deceiving dreams, false doctrines, false
beliefs, false religions, religious illusions, delusions) and casting
down every high thing (false gods, false deities, deceitful lust, perverse reasoning and more) that exalts itself against the knowledge of God in
Christ, and bringing into captivity (IN OUR THOUGHT LIFE AND THINKING)
every thought to get in line with the obedience of Christ (Also into agreement with Jesus Christ and His Cross & Resurrection....He will be working mightily in the church THIS SANCTIFICATION and in the world that they might be saved THRU FAITH IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND HIS RESURRECTION. God will be HIGHLY
MAGNIFYING THE CROSS OF CHRIST and HIS RESURRECTION GLORY UNTO US IN
THESE LAST DAYS and the Power thereof and Readying the church and the world for The Judgements.....Will we stand or fall?.....deno.
It is only when we realize how ugly we are as being sinners that our
eyes can truly be opened to how beautiful Jesus Christ and Him crucified
is. But as long as you think your self righteousness is beautiful in
the mirror that you are looking in, you will not see how beautiful
Christ is and the gift of righteousness is, which is given to us freely
by faith in his sufferings and atoning blood. Jesus and him crucified is
GODS MIRROR...It's picture tells the true story of how we all
look, both Jews and Gentiles, before God outside of the Cross of
Christ...All over the world in all nations, people are looking in the
wrong mirrors and by what those cultural mirrors tell them, they are ok, they are
beautiful, and have no need of Jesus Christ and the blood of His
Cross...... But God from the Cross of Christ preaches to all the world a different message. God says to the Jew first and then to all of us Gentile
nations, Only those washed in Christ, His Sons blood are beautiful in Gods
sight....Only those who have Christ as their life and righteousness as a
gift from God by grace look beautiful in the eyes of the Lord.
(Colossians 3:1-4 & 1 Corinthians 1:29-31).... Come to Christ the Son of God so that your sinful ugliness can be blotted out and the beauty of the Lord revealed in you......deno......share freely.
Brethren, My heart's desire and
prayer for Israel is, THAT THEY MIGHT BE SAVED..(the children of
Israel-THE CHOSEN PEOPLE- had become lost like the rest of the world.
They had fallen away from the movements of God, His Word of Prophecy
fulfillment's, and grace. The Lord as He foretold them suddenly was in
Israel visiting His people as the Christ, in their temple as a man, and
they rejected Him as Isaiah foretold they would, and then
crucified him in their unbelief-Isaiah 53:1-6)....... 2) For I bear them record, (I can
say this about them), that they HAVE A ZEAL for God (passionate about
God), but not according to knowledge,(not according to Gods proper
understanding). (So what was their problem? Where had they missed God? It
was all in the area of knowledge & proper understanding concerning
Christ)...... vs3) For they (Israel) being ignorant of(blind to), of God's
righteousness, and going about (in their religion of exalting THE LAW OF MOSES)
to establish their own righteousness (Self righteousness, reward by
their doings of the LAW instead of by faith in the doings of the Cross
of Christ and His sufferings, and his bloods redeeming effects given us as a FREE GIFT). They
going about to establish their own righteousness, HAVE NOT SUBMITTED
THEMSELVES (that was the problem, they on this matter had not submitted their understanding to Gods understanding concerning Christ and the free gifts God gave us all thru him, thru the rewards of HIS SUFFERINGS), THEY HAD NOT SUBMITTED THEMSELVES unto the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. (What was this righteousness of
God that Israel failed to SUBMIT themselves to?) Here it is in vs 4)...
For Christ is THE END of righteousness by the keeping of the Law to
EVERYONE THAT BELIEVES....Believes What? Go and Read Romans 10: vs
5-13) ......believes basically that God had become a man and was dwelling amongst them in Christ. And that as a man He died for the punishment of their sins and rose again from the dead for their new real hope by grace. This VISITATION Israel DID NOT BELIEVE and their unbelief caused them to be severed from and separated from God. From that point on for Israel, to God it did not matter how intense or devoted they were about their keeping the commandments of the Mosaic Law or their physical circumcision. God had Himself visited HIS PEOPLE IN CHRIST and they rejected this truth in unbelief. So they going about to establish their own righteousness by the Law of commandments when they had rejected and crucified the LAW GIVER that had become flesh and dwelt amongst them as Christ, in their unbelief all those rules and laws they kept did not profit them anything from that rejection point on. Faith in Christ blood power, his deaths power and purpose, his resurrection power and purpose was the NEW RIGHTEOUSNESS ORDERED BY GOD to ALL NATIONS starting first in Israel then to the Gentile Nations.....deno......share freely.
It is by faith that it would be by grace so that the
promise would be sure to all THE SEED, them that believe like
Abraham....Abraham believed what God promised him and his faith God
called his righteousness....When we accept Christ by faith, believing in our heart that Jesus came down from heaven, Became a man in the virgin Mary. In the proper time Jesus laid down his life for us. He died for our sins and rose again for our justification by grace thru faith WE SHALL BE JUSTIFIED and our faith God Himself accounts as OUR ETERNAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. Christ becomes our all in all, even our every acceptable and good thing as written in 1st Corinthians 1:29-31....Amen.....This Is Salvation..
