Old Testament Reading – Ezekiel 36:16-32
New Testament Reading – Galatians 5:16-26
A Challenge to our Students
“The Price of Blessing” # 1
Ephesians 5:1-21
Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor
In Ephesians 2:10, the Apostle Paul said: “Christians are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
- While our good works are not the root of our salvation, for we are saved by God’s grace alone, through our faith alone, in Christ alone, good works are the fruit of our salvation, and God has a special work for us to do for His glory. Therefore, for the Christian:
- Success is not determined by what we are, but by what we are compared to what we could be.
- Success is not determined by what we have done, or what we are doing, but by what we have done, and are doing, compared to what we could have done, and should be doing, if we were living in obedience to God’s will for our lives.
- Therefore, are you sure that you are living in the center of God’s will?
BASIC STEPS TO LIVE THE VICTOROUS CHRISTIAN LIFE
1. Receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord – to be “born again” in your spirit – John 3:3 – “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” KJV
- The word “see” in this verse means to perceive, understand, comprehend, grasp, or to realize. Jesus told Nicodemus that every person is born spiritually blind; they lack the spiritual capacity to recognize God’s truth. But after they are “born again” by the Holy Spirit, God opens their spiritual eyes to understand spiritual things.
- In theological terms, this is the work of regeneration as the Holy Spirit awakens a person’s dead spirit, giving them a new vision of what this life is all about.
- Regeneration is the sovereign work of God the Holy Spirit upon those who are lost; raising them from the dead, so that they are now able to repent and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
- “Even when we were dead in sins, [God] hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:5-9 – KJV
2. Surrender our lives to the Lordship of Christ – Romans 12:1-2 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” KJV
- Knowing that we were once dead in our trespasses and sins, and in bondage to our sin nature, with no hope of ever being set free, but that God, by His grace alone, has accepted my faith in the sacrificial death of His only begotten Son as the sufficient payment for my sin, Paul said our only reasonable response is to:
- Present our bodies as living sacrifices unto God – 1st Corinthians 6:19-20 – “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” KJV
- A believer will never make any real progress toward that successful, victorious Christian life until they have laid their lives on God’s altar, beginning with their physical bodies.
- Be Not Conformed to the world – Joshua 24:15 – “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” KJV
- This is not accomplished through isolation, but through consecration, dedication, and insulation, and drawing closer to God.
- Jesus said His disciples are to be in the world but not of the world, so that He can use us as His witness to the world of the transforming power of His amazing grace.
- Be transformed by the renewing of your mind – 2 Timothy 3:16 – “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” KJV
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- The Bible becomes the final authority for the definition and the practice of our faith, not human opinions, cultural trends, or religious traditions.
- “Meditate in the Word of God day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8 – KJV
- “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” John 15: 7-9 – KJV
3. Be Filled with the Holy Spirit – Ephesians 5:17-18 – “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” KJV
- Verse 18 is a “command” – “BE filled with the Holy Spirit.”
- God called every believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit; to trust Him to provide, protect, defend, deliver, call, equip, send, and empower them to serve the Lord in whatever assignment He gives to them, and to do it only to glorify the name of Christ.
- Every Christian has access to an abundant life that most Christians will never live to experience. They do not realize the price Jesus paid for our salvation included the peace, power, and presence of the Holy Spirit. They do not know how to stay connected to the Holy Spirit in their daily life.
- The Person of the Holy Spirit –
- Many Christians refer to the Holy Spirit as an “it,” or a “force,” or a “power,” but not as a real person. However, the Holy Spirit (Ghost KJV) refers to the Third Person of the Triune Godhead – He is coexistent, coequal, and coeternal with God the Father and God the Son.
- Both the Old Testament and the New Testament present the Holy Spirit as a Person with personal characteristics, who does personal things, such as speaking, thinking, feeling, and acting.
- The Holy Spirit has life and gives life – Romans 8:2.
- The Holy Spirit is omniscient – He searches the deep things of God, comprehends the thoughts of God, and reveals them to man – 1 Corinthians 2:10-11.
- The Holy Spirit is omnipresent – there is no place to hide from His presence – Psalm 139:7.
- Therefore, while the Holy Spirit is a Divine Power, He is also a Divine Person, just as God the Father and God the Son.
- The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament –
- From Genesis to Malachi, the predominant Person in the scriptural narrative is God the Father, as He reveals Himself and Hhis plan for our redemption through His dealings with the Hebrews.
- In the gospels, the predominant Person in the scriptural narrative is God the Son, as He fulfills God’s plan for man’s redemption through his life, death, burial, and resurrection.
- From the Book of Acts forward, the predominant Person in the scriptural narrative is God the Holy Spirit, whose divine assignment is to “call out and assemble” God’s people.
- The Holy Spirit works in four basic areas to accomplish His assignment:
- Regeneration – God gives those who receive Christ as their Savior and Lord a new heart, and His Spirit dwells within them.
- Inspiration – God empowers those who receive Christ as their Savior and Lord with the desire and power to do His will.
- Preservation – God gives those who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord the ability to resist the temptations to sin.
- Motivation – God gives those who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord the “measure of grace” through which they are to edify the Church and glorify Christ.
