Untitled Sermon (15)

I was His Choice

Ephesians 1:

Ephesians 1:3–4 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

We have been blessed with Spiritual blessing in the heavenly places:

1. Chosen (Verse 4)

2. Predestined (Verse 5)

3. Adoption (Verse 5)

4. Glorious Grace (Verse 6)

5. Redemption (Verse 7)

6. Forgiveness (Verse 7)

7. Knowledge of His will (Verse 9)

8. Inheritance (Verse 11)

9. Hope in Christ

10. Salvation (Verse 13)

11. Sealed (Verse 13)

12. Pledge of our Inheritance (Verse 14)

“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world”

He (that is, God) chose us in him (that is, Christ)

chosen: to choose especially for oneself or in one’s own behalf.

Our salvation did not begin with your choice to believe in Christ—a choice which was real and necessary.

Your salvation did not begin with your choice to believe in Christ—a choice which was real and necessary. Your salvation began before the creation of the universe when God planned the history of redemption, ordained the death and the resurrection of his Son, and chose you to be his own through Christ. This is a great objective ground for assurance. And we should consider it deeply.

Our salvation began before the creation of the universe

When God planned the history of redemption

Ordained the death and the resurrection of his Son,

Chose us to be his own through Christ.

God chose us in Eternity and not in time!!! - “Before the foundation of the world”

“That we should be” - This something that will happen because it was set in motion before hand…

#1 Holy

Holy: having the characteristics of moral or ritual purity;

holy (pure) adj. — having the characteristics of moral or ritual purity; context often emphasizes one over the other.

Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary All Spiritual Blessings

Paul says that “he [that is, God] chose us in him [that is, Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (v. 4). This troubles some people, because they suppose that if God elects individuals to salvation, as this verse and others clearly declare he does, then the value of human choices is destroyed and the motivation for a holy life vanishes. This is not what happens. Instead of destroying the value of human choices, election gives us a capacity for choosing that we did not possess previously as unregenerate persons.

Before we were made alive in Christ we had a human will. But it was directed against God, not toward him. We could choose, but we always chose wrongly. When we were made alive in Christ we received a new nature, according to which God, who before was undesirable to us, now became desirable, and we willingly submitted ourselves to him. Again, so far as living a holy life is concerned, we are told in another text that God wills our holiness. So, far from being an excuse for unholiness, election actually guarantees the opposite. The only way we can know whether we are among the elect ultimately is whether we are living a holy life.

Holy always has in it the idea of difference and of separation.

Holy is the Greek word hagios, which always has in it the idea of difference and of separation. A temple is holy because it is different from other buildings; priests are holy because they are different from ordinary men and women; an animal to be sacrificed is holy because it is different from other animals; God is supremely holy because he is different from us; the Sabbath is holy because it is different from other days. So, God chose Christians that they should be different from other people.

A temple is holy because it is different from other buildings;

priests are holy because they are different from ordinary men and women;

an animal to be sacrificed is holy because it is different from other animals;

God is supremely holy because he is different from us;

the Sabbath is holy because it is different from other days.

So, God chose us that we should be different from other people.

#2 Blameless

Blameless: faultless in the sense of being holy or pure

Blameless - Its interest lies in the fact that it is a sacrificial word. Under Jewish law, before an animal could be offered as a sacrifice, it had to be inspected; and, if any blemish was found, it had to be rejected as unfit for an offering to God.

Only the best was fit to offer to God.

Blameless is the Greek word amōmos. Its interest lies in the fact that it is a sacrificial word. Under Jewish law, before an animal could be offered as a sacrifice, it had to be inspected; and, if any blemish was found, it had to be rejected as unfit for an offering to God. Only the best was fit to offer to God. Amōmos thinks of the whole person as an offering to God. It thinks of taking every part of our life, work, pleasure, sport, home life and personal relationships, and making them all fit to be offered to God. This word does not mean that Christians must be respectable; it means that they must be perfect. To say that Christians must be amōmos is to banish contentment with everything that is second best; it means that the Christian standard is nothing less than perfection.

The word Blameless thinks of the whole person as an offering to God.

It thinks of taking every part of our life, work, pleasure, sport, home life and personal relationships, and making them all fit to be offered to God.

This word does not mean that Christians must be respectable; it means that they must be perfect.

To say that Christians must be blameless is to banish contentment with everything that is second best;

it means that the Christian standard is nothing less than perfection.

But I don’t feel Holy Or Blameless (Example) .......

I am glad he didn’t choose me in Time but Eternity

He has only seen me as Holy and Blameless

How was this complete

Colossians 1:21–22 ESV

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

Now we have to live like the price has been paid for us!!!!!!!

to choose for oneself v. — to choose especially for oneself or in one’s own behalf.

c. With every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: This describes both the kind of blessings and the location of those blessings. These are spiritual blessings, which are far better than material blessings. These blessings are ours in the heavenly places in Christ, they are higher, better, and more secure than earthly blessings.

i. "Our thanks are due to God for all temporal blessings; they are more than we deserve. But our thanks ought to go to God in thunders of hallelujahs for spiritual blessings. A new heart is better than a new coat. To feed on Christ is better than to have the best earthly food. To be an heir of God is better than being the heir of the greatest nobleman. To have God for our portion is blessed, infinitely more blessed than to own broad acres of land. God hath blessed us with spiritual blessings. These are the rarest, the richest, the most enduring of all blessings; they are priceless in value." (Spurgeon)

ii. If we have no appreciation for spiritual blessing, then we live at the level of animals. Animals live only to eat, sleep, entertain themselves, and to reproduce. We are made in the image of God and He has something much higher for us, yet many choose to live at the level of animals. God wants us know every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

iii. We also note that this includes every spiritual blessing.

- This means that every blessing we receive, we receive in Christ.- This means that God wants to bless us with every blessing available to us.

d. Just as He chose us in Him: Our possession of every spiritual blessing is as certain as our being chosen by Him, and chosen before the foundation of the world.

i. We dare not diminish what Paul writes here. Believers are chosen by God, and they are chosen before they have done anything or have been anything for God. "It is the infinite Free-Will of God, (even more sacred than the free-will of man;) a purpose and a plan older than the oceans and the skies." (Moule) The great light of this truth casts some shadows - namely, in trying to reconcile human responsibility with divine sovereignty. But the purpose of light is not to cast shadows but to guide our steps. The light of God's selection gives us assurance to the permanence of His plan and His love towards us.

ii. The reasons for God's choosing are not capricious, nor are they random. Though they are past our finding out, we know that they are altogether wise and good, but the reasons are all in Him, not in us. His choosing is according to the good pleasure of His will().

iii. We are chosen in Him. "For if we are chosen in Christ, it is outside ourselves. It is not from the sight of our deserving, but because our heavenly Father has engrafted us, through the blessing of adoption, into the Body of Christ. In short, the name of Christ excludes all merit, and everything which men have of themselves." (Calvin)