The Super-Grace Life- the status of the adult son who has achieved capacity. Eph 1:6

           

EPH 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

 

So far in verse 6 we have exegeted the first clause:

 

eis epainon - to the over-praise or applause. Epainon speaks of recognition or approval so literally “to the praise” is, “resulting in recognition.”

 

Praise of God is always intensive and it is always from the soul in appreciation for what God has done in grace. Grace is always the unmerited favor and blessing from God.

 

Next we have:

 

genitive singular of doxa - without the definite article it refers to the quality of God’s essence.

 

Each member of the Trinity has identical essence that they have always possessed.

 

This essence has a quality that is unmatched as well as a quality that is beautiful.

 

Next we have:

 

tes charitos autou - from the source of His grace.

So far the corrected translation would be:

 

“Resulting in the recognition of glory from the source of His grace.”

 

God has shown forth His glory to mankind from the ultimate source of grace. This makes it clear that we cannot work our way to a position from which we can see His glory.

 

“which He freely bestowed” - hes plus the aorist active indicative of chariteo [echaritosen] - “from which [grace] He has pursued us with grace.”

 

The aorist tense is a dramatic aorist stating a present reality with the certainty of a past event.

 

The past event is the doctrine of divine decrees or God’s decision in eternity past to treat mankind in grace.

 

Therefore, since man is restless and hard to catch this verb recognizes a man as a believer being pursued by grace.

 

No matter if we are carnal or spiritual, if we are in reversionism or advancing with momentum, God is going to pursue us with grace.

 

Now the form that the grace comes in will be different if we are in reversionism or carnality than if we are spiritual and advancing, but it is grace all the way.

 

The dramatic aorist is often used for a status which has just been realized, and the whole objective of Ephesians 1:6 is to become aware of the super-grace life with the result that you enter into the super-grace life.

 

“us” is the accusative plural of the personal pronoun ego [hemas]. This personal pronoun means that any believer who is positive toward doctrine is under the principle of super-grace.

 

This little pronoun means equal privilege and equal opportunity under election and predestination.

 

Finally we have:

 

“in the beloved” — the perfect passive participle of agapao [egapemeno]. “In the One having been loved.”

 

 Agapao is used for mental attitude love. In the case of God it is right from His essence.

 

The perfect tense is the permanent fact that God loves us, but the emphasis here is that He loves us because He first of all loved His Son.

 

 

 

The perfect tense is used to first of all indicate there was a permanent love always between the Father and the Son. I was in EP and it goes on forever, and since you are in union with Christ, you are in the Beloved, that love is as deep and as permanent as it is for Christ.

 

We are “in” the One being loved, which refers to the fact that since we are in union with the one who has always been loved we now share being the object of that permanent love.

 

God the Father loves God the Son with a permanent love; God the Father loves every believer with a permanent love.

 

The passive voice indicates that we receive this love without earning it or deserving it or working for it.

 

You do not work for the love of God, it is at a maximum at the point of salvation, and God’s love for you from the point of salvation on never is improved.

 

Every believer is in union with the one having been loved.

 

Therefore we are the objects of maximum love from the start and it never changes.

 

Since the believer is in union with Christ the Father can only love us with the same capacity of love that He has for the Son. Consequently we are “the ones having been loved,” as well.

 

This is taught in Colossians 3:12; 1 Timothy 6:2; Hebrews 6:9; 2 Peter 3:1; 1 John 3:2.

 

COL 3:12

And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

 

1 Tim 6:2

And let those who have believers as their masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but let them serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.

 

HEB 6:9

But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.

 

2 Peter 3:1

This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,

 

1 John 3:2

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.

 

By the way, you don’t have to wait for eternity to be like Him. It is through doctrine, now in time, that you can see Him just as He is. And this will lead us into our next doctrine.

 

This is such a misunderstood verse; while it does refer to eternity when we are face to face with the Lord it also is a promise for time. In time you must see Him just as He is and since He is the word of God you will see Him through the many doctrines that make up the plan for the Royal Family of God.

 

We have now completed verse 6 and this is the corrected translation:

 

Translation: EPH 1:6 “Resulting in the recognition of glory from the source of his grace, from which he has pursued us with grace in the One having been loved.”

 

I wanted to pause here since much of what we have been studying is very broad and not very specific. So I wanted to get into some specifics with the doctrine that Paul is getting at here, which is the life that God is pursuing us with, the supergrace life.

 

Last week I mentioned some of the roses at the Muckross House and how their beauty memorizes you so that you forget about everything for a few moments.

 

I liken this to peering into the essence or the glory of God. You forget yourself. You forget your problems, any dangers, all past handicaps, and you stand in awe of God - that’s the resultant praise.

 

[Muckross Lilly]

 

But unlike the garden, which is in season and out of season, the glory of God is available to “us” every day of our lives after salvation.

 

And when the days come that we will forget it is there and ready to be beheld, God will pursue us with it. This is the grace of our God!

 

And God promises to pursue us until we enter into the super-grace life.

 

Doctrine of the Super-grace life:

 

Point 1: Definition

Grace is all that God is free to do for man on the basis of the cross. Super-grace is the adult stage of the spiritual life that includes blessings [spiritual and material] that stagger the imagination.

 

Super-grace is the status of the functioning adult son of God who has achieved capacity for greater grace blessings, James 4:6.

 

This means that the believer, through years of making BD his top priority, has achieved a mental attitude of humility, has exercised the power options of the plan of God, and shares the happiness of God.

 

Super-grace is the status of the believer who walks by means of power of God the Holy Spirit consistently.

 

The super-grace believer makes the plan of God his top priority every day and so doctrine and the filling of the Holy Spirit are his top priority every day.

 

Being filled with the Spirit is synonymous with being in fellowship with Christ, which is abiding in Christ.

 

Therefore the super-grace believer abides in Christ and brings maximum glory to God.

 

John 15:5

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

 

John 15:8

"By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

 

Walking by means of the Spirit is a lifestyle of being filled with the Spirit. This produces the fruit of the Spirit. Thus walking by means of the Spirit is synonymous with abiding in Christ which results in the super-grace believer bearing much fruit and bringing maximum glory to God.

 

Therefore the super-grace believer begins the normal spiritual life which is consistent production of divine good.

 

All of this production is a byproduct of exploited grace. The super-grace believer fully understands that even the greatest production all comes from the grace of God.

 

1 Cor 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

 

So often believers quote this verse in reference to their failures. They say, “Sure I screwed up, but I am what I am by the grace of God.” And that’s fine; we need to apply grace to our failures.

 

But how about saying what Paul says here. “By the grace of God I am what I am because I’m a believer that produces divine good, in fact, much divine good.  

 

The super-grace believer understands how to capitalize on the grace of God, in fact he exploits the grace of God to the maximum.

 

The super-grace believer has a wonderful, personal relationship with God and fully realizes that Jesus Christ is his best friend.

 

Therefore the super-grace believer can be alone or he can be surrounded by dear friends. He can be married to his right one or be single. He can be rich or he can be poor. He can be in hardship or in prosperity. He can be living or dying. There is one consistency in his life through all the whirlwinds that circumstances and people bring: he is a son of the living God and Jesus Christ is his best friend.

 

Therefore, through years of learning the doctrines that consist of the breadth, length, height, and depth he has discovered the secret of contentment.

 

Phil 4:11

Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

 

Phil 4:12

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

 

Phil 4:13

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

 

All of these things are accomplished through your very own personal relationship with God. You no longer use people as a crutch and you no longer view the opinions of others as your source of acceptance.

 

In super-grace you are finally functioning in the normal life of a believer priest in the Royal Family of God, just like Jesus Christ did in the First Advent.

 

So the last point to our definition is:

 

In super-grace the believer’s royal priesthood begins its normal function.

 

If you’re like me, and I hope to God you’re not, jk, but if you’re like me you wanna say, “What the heck have I been doing up to this point?” God would say… training my son, training.

 

God isn’t going to send you into battle until you’re fully trained. He’s not messing around. He’s all about victory. He’s never going to set you up for failure, remember He pursues you with grace and He is always going to set you up for victory.

 

Understanding this gives the super-grace believer such confidence in the future that he is ready and willing to do whatever God calls him to do.

 

Abraham experienced super-grace in the OT as an example:

 

GEN 22:1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

 

Notice Abraham’s readiness, “Present sir, what are your orders?”

 

Hold your place here and let’s see Abraham before super-grace.

 

GEN 15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

"Do not fear, Abram,

I am a shield to you;

Your reward shall be very great."

 

GEN 15:2 And Abram said, "O Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"

 

Now go back to GEN 22:2

 

GEN 22:2 And He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

 

 

 

GEN 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

 

Abraham wanted an heir more than anything when he was young and while he was still the center of his universe, but after growing up spiritually he realized that the only thing he wanted was to be a friend to God. You see, God became his center.

 

If Isaac has to go, he has to go, but one thing is constant, Jesus Christ is my best friend.

 

ISA 41:8

"But you, Israel, My servant,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

Descendant of Abraham My friend,

 

James 2:23

and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God.

 

 

 

 

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2 Cor 3:11 For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

 

2 Cor 3:12 Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech,

 

2 Cor 3:13 and are not as Moses, who used to put a veil over his face that the sons of Israel might not look intently at the end of what was fading away.

 

2 Cor 3:14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.

 

2 Cor 3:15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;

 

2 Cor 3:16 but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

 

2 Cor 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

 

2 Cor 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.