Ephesians: Prescript (1:1-2) – Grace to you! (part 2)

Sunday September 2, 2018

Title: Ephesians: Prescript (1:1-2) – Grace to you! (part 2)

Eph 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are … and believers (those who have entrusted the salvation of their souls) in Christ Jesus.

Eph 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Grace to you” xa/ri$ u(mi=n (charis humin).

Charis - God’s conduct towards sinful man, through Christ, in spontaneous favor without obligation on man’s part.

As we will see, this is a limited definition. Charis is one of those words that cannot be stripped down into a brief definition that is easily memorized. It is a concept so vast and powerful that it is too big for summary.

We have noted the classical use of the word by the Greek speaking world and that the Bible does in fact use the word with that meaning, as a thing that gives joy to the beholder, a favor done without thought of reward, or an act beyond expectation. However, God the Holy Spirit molded this word into a limitless favor done for the most undeserving.

The common Greek usage of the word tells us that fallen man can discern something of that which is good. We have often studied the fact that when man ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that he could then understand that such a concept was possible, that there were good things in this world and evil things, but that he was hopeless to discern the difference.

We must modify this conclusion.

Man is able to discern something of that which is good, but he cannot clearly see goodness for all that it is, and perhaps more importantly, how absolute and transcendent “good” is, having its only source in God.

All people are made in the image of God. They have a spirit and a conscience. Almost everyone understands that stealing, murder, adultery, and lying are bad. However, almost everyone believes that there are limits to these commands and that some lying or stealing is permissible under the right circumstances. Murder is more stringent in that it takes something of most value, but many still do it under certain situations, and as the Bible states, if you hate your brother, then you are a murderer in your soul.

The problem is the flesh. The fallen nature of man rejects absolute authority.

Rom 7:5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

Rom 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "You shall not covet."

Rom 7:8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.

Rom 7:9 And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died;

Rom 7:10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;

Rom 7:11 for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.

Pastor Ed Collins’ blog Awaken the Sleeping Giant:

“The key phrase above is, “But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment.”This essentially means that in the absence of a commandment, sin (the human flesh’s domain) lies dormant. It isn’t until something poses a threat to the flesh that the sleeping giant is awoken. This is why folks abiding in the flesh (e.g. unbelievers) can be incredibly calm and even pleasant most of the time. However, if these same people are confronted with the law of God, all bets are off. This is why the old adage exists: never talk religion or politics in mixed company. Why? Because inevitably, since both topics involve God-given authority, someone’s human flesh is going to lose its cool and pick a fight.”

As he mentions in the blog, this is why people don’t talk about religion or politics. These topics have to bring into the conversation the absolute authority of God, and the flesh, which a minute ago was a calm, sleeping, unthreatened giant, awakens to lash out and fight against authority, which is really fighting against truth.

Man can discern some good, but he can’t see “the good” all the way through because he cannot submit to the authority of his Creator if he will not submit to his need for Christ as his Savior from sin and death.

Yet grace cuts through all that sin and evil and stands ready at the doorstep of each sinner’s soul with an invitation to eternal life through faith. And that same grace bids us to live eternal life now by exploiting God’s gifts.

Every believer has been given the gift of life in Christ Jesus enabling him to live “under grace” and submit fully to God’s truth in obedience and not being mastered by the passions and desires of the flesh. Grace to you!

Rom 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

Rom 6:16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

Rom 6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,

Rom 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Rom 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

Rom 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Rom 6:21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.

Rom 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

No analogy is perfect and we shouldn’t take them too far, but the picture of an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, and you in the middle making choices, has its merit when considering these passages. If we are slaves to righteousness, and as new creatures we are, then why do we still sin?

Paul said: Rom 7:11 for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.

The sin (sin nature) is shown as deceiving him. This doesn’t make him innocent or unaccountable, and as an unbeliever he could be nothing but deceived, but, as he goes on to reveal, he could be saved from all this through Christ and find that under the grace of God he could actually live a life of goodness and righteousness.

Rom 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

Rom 7:25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Gal 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Gal 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Gal 5:26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.