SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/27/2018 12:33 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Praise for
Believers Intro
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph. 1:15b
Message of the
verses: “the faith in the Lord Jesus
which exists among you,”
In today’s SD we will be
looking at the introduction to the first main point which is entitled “Praise
for Believers,” and then look at the first sub-section entitled “Praise for
their faith,” and so I won’t to now post the verses that go along with this
first main-section. “15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the
Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16
do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my
prayers;”
Now
as we look at the first words in verse fifteen “For this reason,” Paul is
giving praise to the believers because of all that he wrote in verses 3-14
which speaks of their wonderful inheritance.
One thing that I mentioned in an earlier SD is that it is believed that
the letter to the Ephesians was a circuit letter that went throughout Asia
Minor, and it may have gone to those seven churches that we see in Revelation
chapters 2-3, and then probably to other churches as well as Paul taught in
Ephesus for three years. We have read that the gospel went out all over Asia
Minor. Paul was in prison when he wrote
this letter and it had been around four years since he left Ephesus. Even though Paul was in prison at this time
he got letters and also visits from friends who were in Ephesus. MacArthur adds “He heard two things that
indicated the genuineness of their salvation, and for those two cardinal marks
of a true Christian—faith in Christ and love for other Christians—he
affectionately praises them. Those two
dimensions of spiritual life are inseparable (cf. 1 John 2:9-11).” “9 The one
who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness
until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no
cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the
darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because
the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
“Praise For Their Faith: “the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you,” (Eph. 15b).
There is something going on in this section of verse 15
that has actually caused debate among Christians. I had a wonderful Pastor that I sat under for
16 years and I had always heard that one of the things that he differed in his
belief with John MacArthur was the subject of the “Lordship of Jesus
Christ.” Now I had never spoke to him
about what his issue was, however I did speak with my current Pastor one time
for a moment about this but did not get an explanation as to what he meant as
far as the difference was. I plan on
doing this now that I have read a quote from MacArthur’s commentary on this
section which says:
“The
emphasis here is on true saving belief, with the lordship of Jesus as the
object of that belief. Some Christians,
perhaps intending to protect the gospel from any taint of works righteousness,
underplay Christ’s lordship almost to the point of denying it. Others would like to accept the term ‘Lord,’
only as a reference to deity, not sovereignty.
But such a separation is artificial, because deity implies
sovereignty. The One who alone is God
rules alone. Yet those who teach that a
person must believe in Christ as sovereign Lord in order to be saved are
sometimes described derisively as ‘lordship Salvationists.’ The New Testament, however, does not separate
Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord. He
is both, or He is neither. Paul says,
‘If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that
God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved’ (Rom. 10:9; cf. Acts 16:31). Jesus becomes Savior when He is accepted as
Lord. ‘For to this end,’ Paul explains later in Romans, ‘Christ died and lived
again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living’ (14:9). Believers say—in fact, only believers can
say—‘Jesus is Lord’ because they possess the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3), who was
given to them when they were saved (Rom. 8:9).
To receive Jesus as Savior but not as Lord would be to divide His nature
in two. When we receive Him, we receive
Him wholly as He is.
“Granted,
no person receives Jesus Christ with a full understanding of all He is or all
He requires as Lord of those He saved.
Many Christians come to Christ with only the barest idea of His
sovereign deity or what is means to belong to and submit to Him. But they are willing to submit (cf. Matt.
8:19-22; 9:9; 10:37-39; Luke 9:57-62), to give up all they have (cf. Matthew
13:44-36; 18:3-4; 19:16-26), and to leave all and follow Him (Matt. 19:27). Once they have come to Him, some Christians
lose their first love for Him as Savior and resist obeying Him as Lord. But their lovelessness makes Him no less
Savior, and their resistance makes Him no less Lord. Christ is not accepted in parts, first as
Savior and latter as Lord. Jesus the
Savior is Jesus the Lord, and Jesus the Lord is Jesus the Savior. He does not exist in parts or relate to
believers in parts. Awareness,
appreciation, and obedience to Him as Savior and Lord change. When we are faithful to Him those things
increase, and when we are unfaithful they diminish. But the fact of Jesus’ lordship begins the
same moment He becomes Savior, and neither His lordship nor His saviorhood
changes for believers from that time through all eternity. All the commands of Christ, which are to be
taught to all believers (Matt. 28:19-20), assume His sovereign right to give
orders and to be obeyed. That is
precisely why Paul calls salvation ‘the obedience of faith’ (Rom. 1:5).
“Paul
is not praising the Ephesians for some later, supplement act of faith but for
the original faith that brought them to saving submission to the sovereign
Lord. ‘The faith in the Lord Jesus which
exists among you’ refers to this same saving faith with which they entered the
Christian life and in which they were continuing to live.”
As I relate this long quote to what happened to me when I
was saved I have to agree that I did not know that Jesus Christ was even God,
but with the patience of God He showed me who Jesus Christ is as I knew He was
both my Savior and my Lord.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am forever
thankful that the Lord saved me and then began to teach me all about Himself,
and has given an appetite for His Word so He can continue to teach me more
about who He is and what He does.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to continue to teach me so
that I can then, by the grace of God show others what He has taught me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “as a child” (1 Timothy 3:15).
Today’s Bible
question: “What was the purpose of
Jesus’ miracles?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/27/2018 1:32 PM
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