Ephesians 1:3-14 -- Chosen by God

Verse by Verse Commentary of the Letter to the Ephesians

Prologue

Ephesians 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will: To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Paul blesses the readers with “grace and peace”.  Grace is the Greek word Charis, and is always first in greetings by Paul. Peace is the Hebrew word Shalom.  Grace always precedes peace, for only after grace has dealt with our sin can we have peace.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

Chosen by God

“In these powerful verses, Paul drew past, present, and future together. He looked at the work of each of the Persons of the Godhead as it relates to you and me. God the Father, in eternity past, chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless.  He predestined us to be adopted as sons, pouring out His grace on us in Christ. God the Son, in history past, redeemed us through His blood, bringing us forgiveness and lavishing on us gifts of wisdom and understanding. 

Even now we are ‘included in Christ’, and looking forward to the complete fulfillment of God’s plan and the glory that fulfillment holds for us. Now too, we have been sealed by God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, the living guarantee of our inheritance to come.” (Bob Damon, Ephesians Commentary, pg 4).

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

• We are blessed now, because we are redeemed now. We have every spiritual blessing – that includes Justification and Sanctification.
• These blessings are in the Heavenly Realm; where they are eternal, where they really matter. Do we appreciate these blessings and invest in them?

⁴just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

• We are destined to stand in His presence. God chose us, we didn’t choose Him (2 Thess 2:13, 1 Thess 1:4-7, I Pet 1:2). God planned this in eternity (Acts 15:18, John 15:16, I Pet 1:20).

⁵having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

• We are destined for sonship via adoption (Gal 4:4-7, Rom 8:15).

⁶to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

• We are accepted. We will spend eternity trying to fathom God’s grace. Is He deserving of our praise?

• How much does He loves you if he sacrificed His son to save you?

⁷In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 

⁸which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

• We are redeemed through the blood of Christ. We are chosen to be holy and without blame. Election comes with sanctification (2 Thess 2:13-14).
• Redemption is God’s greatest work. Compare to creation.

⁹having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, God has revealed to us the mystery of His divine will.

• We are to be stewards of these mysteries (1 Cor 4:1)
• Moses, Abraham, Enoch, Noah, Daniel all desired to know the mystery of God’s plan of redemption, and yet without that knowledge they had faith.

¹⁰that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

• This is the goal of history, the eternal plan of God: to bring into union everything and everybody , earthly and heavenly, through Jesus Christ.

¹¹In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

• Christ redeemed us with His blood, revealed the mystery of His will, and gave us an inheritance (those who were predestined).

¹²that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

• Our worth and standing is based on the fact that God willed it that we be saved, to His glory, as part of His Plan.

¹³In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 

¹⁴who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

• Our purchase is already completed, we are simply waiting for Christ to come and take possession of His own.
• A seal puts an image or imprint on the believer, and denotes ownership.

Discussion Questions

Assurance of Salvation

• Given the Spirit is a witness to this promise, and Christ has already paid the price for our redemption, why do some people still not have assurance of their salvation? Why do they doubt the promise of our inheritance?
• Can you be saved if God did not choose you first? Is there anything you can do to assure your salvation?
• Even if you doubt this assurance, can you still be saved?

Stewardship of Spiritual Gifts

• What work on God’s behalf are you most grateful for? How have you benefited from God’s grace? Why do you think God performed this act of grace on our behalf?
• What is our responsibility as stewards of God’s gift of grace? Do we have an obligation to understand the mysteries of God’s will as revealed in the Bible?

Our Walk of faith

• Given we have the seal of the Spirit, we have “Diplomatic Immunity” from the world. The world has no jurisdiction over believers. How does this affect your walk through life?
• What can we do to be fearless witnesses in this world?

Are you really chosen by God?

God did freely and immutably ordains whatsoever comes to pass: yet He does it such a way that He is not the author of sin, or damage the free will of man. Let’s look at what we mean by these terms “Free Will” and “Sovereignty”:

Free Will of Man

Two views of free will – Humanist and Scriptural:

Humanist view – all choices are made spontaneously, without prior inclination, bias, predisposition, or prejudice; they are merely chemical processes based on external stimuli. This view has at least two flaws:

• Moral flaw – if our choices are purely a spontaneous chemical reaction to the environment, then there is no reason or motive for our choices. If this is true, nothing that we do could have any moral significance. No action we take could be labeled as good or evil. No motive or intention has any meaning or intrinsic goodness or evil

• Logical flaw – if all decisions are the outcome of a chemical reaction based on outside stimuli, how can a decision be the product of “free will”? If the environment drives all thought processes, feelings and decisions, a person is bound by external forces and not in control. However, the logical conclusion to this view is that there is no good or evil, only opinions, which are themselves only products of environmental stimuli.

Scriptural view – It is the “mind” that chooses. Our spirit or conscience can be overridden by the mind, which is involved in all moral decisions, because it is the mind that first makes one “aware” of the choices to be made. Jonathan Edwards wrote, “free moral agents always act according to the strongest inclination they have at the moment of the choice.”

• When we commit a sin, it is because at the moment we make a choice, the strongest desire is to do that which is not righteous. The “devil made me do it” then, is a false statement.

Sovereignty of God

At a minimum in His permissive will, God always retains the power to stop things from happening, but He may allow things to happen, even if they are evil, His sovereignty and righteousness are not impugned. If God directs that something should happen (His efficacious will), then it must happen.

So what is God’s sovereign relationship to a fallen world? God does not owe mercy to anyone, and is therefore not obligated to offer mercy to everyone. Anyone who is not saved receives justice. The lack of mercy is not injustice. God may choose to give justice to one group and mercy to another group, but no one has ever received injustice from God.

There are five ways God can relate to a fallen world in the “church age”:

1. God can give no one the opportunity for salvation. God would retain His sovereignty and righteousness, and it would be just because God is not obligated to be merciful.
2. God could give everyone the opportunity for salvation (via the gospel).
3. God could give “some” the opportunity for salvation (via the gospel).
4. God could intrude into history and assure that everyone is saved.
5. God could intrude into history and assures that some are saved.

• #1 can’t be true, unless the Gospel is a lie.
• #2 is not true because not all have heard the gospel. (Rom 10:15, I Cor 1:21, Gospel defined in I Cor 15:1-5)
• #4 is a Universalist viewpoint and is not scriptural.
• #3 This is the majority viewpoint of the church – called Arminianism. Given the opportunity, some in their fallen state would accept grace.
• Yet only #5 assures that “some” are saved. Since we are “dead” to our sins, we are incapable of “choosing” salvation, and must be resurrected into life (spiritually) to even accept salvation.

What does Jesus have to say about this issue?

The Radical “Fallen-ness” of Man

The problem with free will and self-determination is that the heart of man is predisposed to sin and God must righteously judge sin:

Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful (polluted) above all things, And desperately (incurably) wicked; Who can know it?  I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.

Jeremiah contends man’s heart is incurably wicked. Man does not have the moral ability to be righteous in his natural fallen state. Heart can be translated will or intellect. Notice verse 10 interchangeably uses heart and mind, which are the will. Paul notes in 2 Cor 4, that when man in his natural state is presented the Gospel, they are blinded to it and despise it:

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

Therefore, fallen man “chooses” to sin, by his will, as that is the greatest desire at that time. This is universal to a fallen race according to Paul

Romans 3:10-11 There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.

So how is any man ever saved if they do not pursue God? Christ makes the point that those who are saved are “given” to Him by the Father:

• John 17:6 “I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.”
• John 6:65 “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father”.
• John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”
• John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him: and I will raise him up on the last day.”
  
  

  What does “draw” really mean? It is the Greek word helkuo means “to drag”. Here are other places where helkuo is used but notice it is translated different ways (Strong’s G1670):

• James 2:6b “Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?”
• John 21:6b “And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to haul it in because of the multitude of fish.”
• Acts 16:19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.”

So, given that man cannot of his own “free will” choose righteousness, God must somehow provide that desire in man first. Then man, who has the desire to seek after God (drawn) to God, in his free will then chooses to follow Christ. However, God must first “choose” who will receive this desire; in His sovereignty some are chosen, or “pre-destined” to receive grace, for they were unable to respond in faith in their fallen state (there was no desire to seek after God until God placed that desire in their hearts).

• Ephesians  2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”
• Ephesians 1:4-5: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

It gave God pleasure, and was His will, that we should spend eternity with Him. If you have the desire to seek God, that should give you peace and assurance, because it is that very desire that was placed in your heart. 

>>   Ephesians 1:15-23 -- Co-heirs with Christ

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Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Ephesians 1:15-23 -- Co-heirs with Christ

Verse by Verse Commentary of the Letter to the Ephesians

Our Position in Christ

Paul desired, then, that we might enjoy a full experience of our position in Christ. We have a new identity now – we are “saints” and we experienced ‘His incomparably great power for us who believe’. And it is His power: the power of a Jesus who is now raised from the dead, seated at the Father’s right hand (the ancient place of authority), far above every competing natural or supernatural authority. Perhaps most significantly, Jesus is Head “over everything for the church, which is His body.” This theme, that we are members of a living organism over which Christ is the living Head, is a theme Paul picked up in later chapters of this powerful little book. (Bob Damon’s Ephesians Commentary, pg 4).

¹⁵Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

¹⁶do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 

¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

• The Holy Spirit is our teacher. The only way we can truly understand the scriptures is by the Spirit. (head vs heart).

¹⁸the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

• We are Christ’s inheritance – God wants us to know this.
• Who will snatch Christ’s inheritance from Him? 
• John 10:28-29: And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

¹⁹and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 

²⁰which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 

²¹far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

• Christ is all powerful, enthroned with God. A man is on the throne of heaven!

²²And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, ²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

• The church, His body, will share in His rule.
• Mankind still resists Him, but He will wield His scepter of universal dominion, and “every knee shall bow 
• Romans 14:11 For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” (quoting Isaiah 45:23)

Application Questions

Prayer

• Do we pray for the Church? Do we thank God for the church?
• Do we pray for Enlightenment and wisdom? Who is the source of this? Why should we pray for enlightenment?
• Why don’t we pray enough for other saints, and prayers of thanksgiving?

The Lordship of Christ

• How can you know Christ’s power is sufficient for all parts of your life? Is there a part of your life you haven’t surrendered?
• Does the knowledge that Christ has authority over all the universe make you more secure?

The Glory of the Church

• What does the church inherit at the end of the age?
• Does it give you comfort to realize that Christ’s inheritance is the church? How would this affect your attitude toward the local congregation? Other “denominations”? The church worldwide?

We, the Church, are co-heirs with Christ

What is God like? See Christ, Jesus, of Nazareth. Christ was the ideal and full measure of God in man. To understand the attributes of Christ is to grasp the fullness of God. And Christ is head of the Church – His body is the church, a mystery hard to grasp, and even harder to appreciate when we ponder how we, as sinful men and women, yet faithful to His promise, make up that body.

Christ is currently has dominion over all principality, power, might and dominion. These are terms for spiritual powers. When He comes for “His own”, the church, we will inherit what He has inherited; a place of honor, privilege, distinction, and glory. This has been communicated to us so that “the eyes our understanding being enlightened…we may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”, that is; “we” are part of His inheritance as well! As co-heirs, we must remember there is nothing you can do to “earn” an inheritance – it is based on your relationship, our “sonship” with the Father, that makes us eligible for this glorious inheritance with Christ.

Romans 8:14-17: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ….

As the church, we now share the glory of Christ! 

 

John 17:20-22 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them…”

<<   Ephesians 1:3-14 -- Chosen by God

>>   Ephesians 2:1-10 -- Faith by Grace

_____________________

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Ephesians 2:1-10 -- Faith by Grace

Verse by Verse Commentary of the Letter to the Ephesians

We are made alive...

God is fully aware of who we were.  We were “dead in … transgressions and sins” and we used to follow “the ways of this world.” We were dedicated to “gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature.”  So, in affirming our new identity in Christ, there is no question of misunderstanding.  God knew full well what we were.

We were.... Now we are no longer what we were!  Now we have been “made…alive” in Christ.  His grace has been poured out on us and we were “raised…up with Christ,” recipients not of a reward, but of a gift. Who are we now?   “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

God knows who we were: it is up to you and me to take Him at His word about who we now are! We can no longer think of ourselves in the old way, or burden ourselves down with past guilt. In Jesus we are renewed: we are His own fresh creations, shaped by the divine hand for the good works He calls us to do. (Bob Damon’s Ephesians Commentary, pg 4).

Beginning in Ephesians 2:

¹And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 

²in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

• To be “in this world” is to be spiritually dead. Not only are the unsaved “dead to sin”, but they are under the dominion of the spirit of the prince of the power of the air.
• Romans 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death…” 

³among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

• By our nature we are enemies of God:  
• Romans 8:7-8 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

• John reminds us we were condemned 
• John 3:18-20 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

• “But God”, the most inspiring of all literary transitions. Suddenly nothing is impossible, and all that might have been lost can now be saved.
• What follows only God could have done; and most amazingly, that He would.

⁵even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with

Christ (by grace you have been saved), 

⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

• Grace is undeserved favor. Even as we were sinful, dead, and enemies of God, He saw fit to save us from condemnation.
• Contrast that with how we are now “righteous”, “alive”, and “seated together” with Christ in the heavenlies.

⁷that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

• This can only be heaven, a glorious vision of endless, future ages with Christ.

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 

⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast.

• God is the originator of grace, given as a completed, finished work in the believer. The word 'it' refers grammatically to 'saved' or salvation.  
• Hebrews 10:12-14 “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.  For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

• Grace is not earned by church membership, baptism, confirmation, christening, tithing, communion, service, seminary degree, using spiritual gifts, and following the 10 commandments. These acts of obedience are good works, but the works do not “cause” grace to be bestowed on the recipient. This should be liberating, to know that...
• Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

• What God begins in us, He will finish.
• Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…”
• The redemptive process completes us, from being dead, to alive in Christ and glorified, hoping for that day to be fulfilled because… 
• Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
  

Application Questions

• Prior to our conversion, what was our position with Christ? What is it now? 
•  How does this affect our daily lives?
• Without Christ, what are three characteristics of a person “in the world”?
• What does God intend to show us in eternity future? 
• Can you describe to someone who does not know Christ what awaits them in eternity?
• Can you describe the importance of decisions made now in this life?
• Do we view those in the world around us scripturally? 
• Do we have the concern for their future that Christ had?

<<   Ephesians 1:15-23 -- Co-heirs with Christ

>>   Ephesians 2:11-18 -- Two into One

_____________________

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Ephesians 2:11-18 -- Two into One

Verse by Verse Commentary of the Letter to the Ephesians

Another aspect of our new identity has a direct impact on our relationship with other Christians. We once defined our relationships with others on the basis of the things that made us different, even as the Jew and Gentile were aware of the cultural and religious gap that not only separated them, but also made them enemies. But now in Christ the gap has been closed, and Jesus has made peace. From even such hostile elements God made “one body.” By being reconciled to God, we are at the same time reconciled to one another. (Bob Damon’s Ephesians Commentary, pg 5).

Christ Is Our Peace

¹¹Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands

 ¹²that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

• Since Abram, Jews had all the advantages, the blessing of knowing God: 

Romans 9:4” who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises…”

• Whereas a Gentile was a foreigner to God, far off, and alien. Only proselytes of the Jewish faith had access to the teachings of God, and by association the blessing. Remember Jesus with the Canaanite woman in 

Matthew 15:24-28:… “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”  But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”  And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”  Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 

¹⁴For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 

¹⁵having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 

¹⁶and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

• This wall of separation is an allusion to the wall between the outer and inner court of the temple, where Gentiles were separated from Jews. Now, not only are Jews and Gentiles redeemed, but they are unified, no longer either Jew or Gentile (but all circumcised of the heart).
• This covenant is sealed with the blood of Christ. 

Matthew 26:27-28 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 

 Hebrews 7:22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.

• This new covenant is Spiritual, not physical. And all who are members of the church, are subject to this new covenant: 

2 Corinthians 3:⁴And we have such trust through Christ toward God. ⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, ⁶who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

¹⁷And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 

¹⁸For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

• We as believers, are now all participants to and recipients of the blessing of the new covenant. 

Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Application Questions

• What is the result of believing the message of Christ? Does God intend for believers to fellowship and worship together? Can a believer effectively grow without fellowship in the body of Christ?
• Why is it that within the church, dividing walls are erected that keep out people from different social and ethnic groups? How should a local church treat foreigners and believers of differing maturity or beliefs?
• In Christ, what is every believer’s relationship to other Christians? What is your role personally in helping your congregation build unity?

The New Covenant with Christ

What were the covenants between God and Noah, then Abram and now the Church?  What does covenant mean? (from Strong’s H1285 pronounced  ber-eeth') a compact (made by passing between pieces of flesh): confederacy, league.

God made a covenant with Noah to save him from the flood.

Genesis 9:12-17, And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.  The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.”  God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and every creature on earth.”

God established the Jewish nation through Abraham:

Genesis 17:4-8“…My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; …  I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.  And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.  Also, I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

While in bondage in Egypt, the Israelites did not know God, yet God remembered them. (A metaphor for the lost today?):

Exodus 2:23-24 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.  So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

The Jews in Egypt didn’t do anything to deserve God’s grace: 

Exodus 6:2-5 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the LORD.  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.  I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers.  And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

A covenant is always sealed with blood.

 

Exodus 24:8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you ...”

Then after hundreds of years of unsuccessfully abiding by God’s laws, Israel was taken captive. Yet even then, God’s plan was unfolding, and the prophet Jeremiah spoke these words of God

Jeremiah 31:31-33 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them.  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel … I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people….For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

This is the glorious covenant under which we, Gentiles and Jews alike, can freely partake, and forever enjoy the peace and joy offered by the blood sacrificed by Jesus to seal this new, better covenant.  There may yet be another covenant in the future, based on ones interpretation of Jeremiah’s prophecy in chapter 32:

Jeremiah 32:36-44 “Now therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.  They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.

  

And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me…and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’  “For thus says the LORD: ‘Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them.  And fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”  Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,’ says the LORD.”

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Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.