Ephesians; 1:4 – Elected to be blameless as is your position, your Savior, and your New Covenant.

Thursday February 21, 2019

 

Eph 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.

 

“should be” – present active infinitive of eimi = it is an eternal truth that the elect are to be set apart from the world and unto God, without stain, the obligation of which is in Eph 4-6.

 

Holy and blameless do not refer to our position but to our character and conduct. It is stated by Paul as a doctrinal truth and he will detail the obligation in chapters 4-6.

 

“holy” – hagios = separate from dedication to things secular and dedicated to God and His way. Separate from sin and evil and dedicated to the worship and service of God.

 

Blameless is amomos, which is “blemish” with the negative alpha prefix. It is used nine times in the NT. Momos (blame or blemish) is metaphorical for shame, moral disgrace, or licentiousness.

 

The livestock of the OT Levitical burnt offering and the peace offering were to be without blemish or spotless. They were to not have any deformity, nor could they be wild animals; they had to be domestic.

 

Of course, the offered animal without blemish represented the Lord Jesus Christ who was blameless. We are called to be like Him; conformed to His image.

 

1Pe 1:17 And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth;

 

1Pe 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

 

1Pe 1:19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

 

We are redeemed with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished (amomos) and spotless (aspilos). Redeemed by purity – live by purity.

 

The first result of sin is shame. The result of our fall was to hide in shame. We went from only being conscious, like children, of that which was without to that which was within. Our internal sin brought shame upon us. If we are to live free, it is imperative that we don’t live in shame. So many people do. The elect are not to.

 

Every believer is completely forgiven and cleansed. A clean conscience serves the living God and maintains its integrity. If he fails, he will rely on the grace of God’s forgiveness and pursue the purity of he life that was gifted to him.

 

1Pe 1:20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you

 

1Pe 1:21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

 

He was foreknown and elected before the foundation of the world and so are we. There is a deep, deep connection between every believer and the Lord Jesus Christ, and there are mysteries about it that are beyond us, but if we pursue that connection in daily communion with Him and in daily pursuit of His word, then we will each of us find the reality and value of that connection.

 

If there was no incarnation and no redemption by a spotless and blameless Savior, then nothing in human history makes any sense. Without Christ, history is only a dark and tragic tale with only the end of complete annihilation in sight. Even if, as the progressive, humanist, Marxist, evolutionist claim, we can all move and organize ourselves into some kind of utopia, there is absolutely no meaning in it. What is its meaning? People live longer, they no longer war with one another? Is that the meaning of man, existence?

 

That connection between the believer and Jesus Christ is long before the foundation of the world and long after.

 

Holy, pure, predestined, foreknown are the believer and Christ. Our deep connection with Him is eternal before time and after time. God has asked us to explore it.

 

Heb 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;

 

Heb 9:12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

 

Heb 9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer [also had to be spotless] sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,

 

Heb 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

“without blemish” – amomos. We are now clean in order to serve and worship God the Father like Jesus did.

 

The blood and the ashes of the heifer cleansed the OT saints ceremoniously. This is clearly seen in the fact that they had to keep offering them over and over. But the blood of Jesus has cleansed us once and for all. Since this is so, our conscience is clean. Sin and its effects have been overcome so that I can lean the Word of God and serve and worship the living God.

 

Christ presents His bride at the Rapture.

 

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her;

 

Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

 

Eph 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless [amomos].

 

When Christ presents His bride, she will be full of glory, having no spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless. She is graced with all the seemliness that He could desire to find in her.

 

The OT Law envisaged a situation in which a husband, having married a wife, might find something unclean or shameful in her. If he did, he could write her a certificate of divorce. But no such possibility exists for the glorified church.

 

Since we are elected that we should be holy and blameless from eternity past, and we will be presented to the Father as the bride of Christ, holy and blameless, then in the meantime, how should we live?

 

Eternity past – elected to holiness and blamelessness. Eternity future – presented holy and blameless. Time?

 

As Peter writes,

 

2Pe 3:8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

 

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

 

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

 

2Pe 3:11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

 

2Pe 3:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

 

2Pe 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

 

2Pe 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,

 

The same words, spotless (aspilos) and blameless (amomos: synonym of amomos) are used in 1Pe 1:19 describing Christ. [slide 10]

 

“Found by Him,” in the context would seem to refer to His coming at the Rapture, which is imminent. That said, if I knew the day, I might think that I could wait to live holy and blameless on that day, and as stupid as that sounds, since no one knows the day, you’ll have to live everyday in holiness and blamelessness.

 


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