Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: Today, we begin a new sermons series, and we will be spending the first part of this year walking through the book of Ephesians “Unity in Christ.”

This the book’s major theme, knowing who we are as God’s people, united in Christ.

We are united in Christ himself, which is one of the first major emphases.

Our identity is bound up in what God has done for us.

We are also united in Christ as the church, that every believer is part of the church.

And that requires us as Christians to realize that we are to be the church.

READ Ephesians 1:1-2

CTS: To the saints of Macedonia, know your identity in Christ and live accordingly.

Background: The city of Ephesus was a large city, a place of strategic importance in the Roman empire.

It was also home to one of the wonders of the ancient world, the temple of Artemis.

The religious life in Ephesus was such that the citizens worshiped up to fifty different gods and goddesses, and none greater was the god Artemis.

She was considered an extremely powerful deity with the ability to compel the passion of a woman toward a man.

Statues of the god were filled with fertility symbols.

This reminds us that the Christians there were to remind themselves constantly of what they left behind and realize who they are in Christ.

The church being who they are in Christ would also shake up the status quo.

Let’s read Acts 19:21-35 and see how Paul’s proclamation of the gospel led to some pretty incredible changes, and it caused some be upset about it.

With this in mind, we should be reminded who we are in Christ, what we have been delivered from and who we have been made to be.

If we are going to be the church we are called to be, we must really know who we are and how we are to then live in light of who we are.

The major direction of this book is our unity in Christ, and the first two verses reveal our identity in Christ and then God’s desire for us to live in the grace and peace he has given us.

These two points apply to the two verses and, as you will see, apply to the rest of the letter as well.

I. Know Who You Are (1)

A. The identity of Paul

Who is Paul?

Paul, once known by Saul, was a “Pharisee of Pharisees,” one committed to the Jewish religious sect and was committed so much to it that he did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah and used every opportunity to lock up Christians and even watch and stand idly by as Stephen was murdered for his faith.

He thought his own actions and works of keeping the Law would bring about God’s favor in his life.

What he didn’t know is that he was actually denying God himself.

But Jesus in his abundant grace and mercy met Saul on the road to Damascus and asked him “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

It was there that Saul’s eyes were opened to the truth of who Jesus was and he then and there surrendered his life to Jesus, the Messiah.

An apostle: In his address to the church, he affirms what his position is an apostle.

The office of Apostle is one found to be the 12 disciples, and then Paul was added to them as “one born out of due time.”

Simply put, these apostles were delegated by Christ for the purpose of propagating his message with his authority.

They did this in oral and written form for the building up of the church.

The early church in Acts 2:42 says that they...

The apostle’s message is the message of Jesus Christ.

God specifically used them to reveal to the church the message that was proclaimed to them and to reveal the Gospel message in its fullest form.

What we are left with today is no need for apostles, for now we have in our hands the written down teachings of Jesus, through the message of the apostles, in what we call the New Testament.

God inspired these apostles and some of their fellow associates (Luke and Mark).

Paul wrote this book under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, therefore, it is authoritative for us today as God’s Word.

We would do well to listen to it today.

According to God’s will: What concludes the identity of the writer of this book is that this was according to not the will of Paul.

Paul was redeemed and chosen for God’s purposes.

God’s will is greater than ours, and it is according to his will that he would be a messenger of the Gospel to encourage the saints at Ephesus.

It is the pleasure of Paul to no longer live for his own glory, but for the glory of the One who saved him and called him.

“It is the doing of God’s will that gives God pleasure and glory.”

- Hoehner.

It is to them that he writes this authoritative words of encouragement and exhortation.

B. The identity of the church

Saints: The recipients of this letter are those in Ephesus, whom we have done some background on.

We are reminded that these people have been set free from the bondage of sin and false worship.

They are no longer identified as sons of disobedience, but are now made saints.

Some might have some hesitation to call someone a saint.

I think we often have this image of a catholic saint that attained that status by living the most devout and holy life they could.

But sainthood cannot be attained by human effort.

No one is a saint by what they do.

They are saints by what God does.

The basic idea of a saint is one that is consecrated to God or to God’s service.

One author I read this week said this about what it means to be a saint.

“Believers had the position of saints and thus were to act saintly.

They obtained this position because they had appropriated Christ’s work to their lives rather than gained it by acting saintly.” - Hoehner

Here is what we must remember and realize.

Your position in Christ is that of a saint.

Yes, I know the I’m just a “sinner saved by grace.”

It’s not a bad phrase.

As a matter of fact, in the right way, it shows the gospel.

But I think often, we can use that phrase to try to justify our sin as believers.

Oh, this is just the way I am.

Thank God for grace!

Yes, thank God for grace!

But we are not identified anymore as sinners.

We are identified as saints.

And not because we are good in any way.

Only because of our faith in Christ and His righteousness given to us are we considered saints.

He does all the work.

He makes us saints.

But then that causes us to be faithful, to believe in Him.

That is our identity as believers.

He isn’t writing to lost people.

He is writing to remind God’s people who they are and how they are to live in light of this wonderful truth.

The Gospel changes us and identifies us as saints.

Be who you are...

In Christ Jesus: And the locality of our sainthood, where our identity is found is in Christ Jesus.

What is so incredible about this is that through faith in Jesus, you are now in Jesus.

Your identity is bound up in the goodness, mercy, love, and grace of King Jesus.

Your righteousness.

Your life.

Your purpose.

Everything as a believer is secured in Jesus.

Whatever Jesus has is now yours.

You are adopted as sons and daughters according to His purpose.

You are alive in Christ.

You are in His body, the church.

He is your head.

You are part of the temple He is building, that He is the cornerstone of.

This is who you are.

You are the church.

The church is every believer that has put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation as Lord.

You are in Jesus.

And now today, we gather today as a local expression of that universal church that we all belong to.

We are the visual of the truth of who we are.

You are united in Christ, God’s people, the church.