Month: April 2018

Our unity as brothers and sisters in Christ is a clear picture of how we are walking in our new identity.  It is one of the over-arching messages of Ephesians chapter 4 as Paul begins to describe what a “new identity” life or walk looks like.

Since we are “one body, one Spirit, one calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Eph 4:4-6), let’s “be diligent to preserve that unity” (Eph 4:3).  Let’s do that by practicing our spiritual gifts for the benefit of the entire body.  In that way, we will “build up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man or woman” (Eph 4:12-13).

What Paul is saying here is, “Let’s grow up together.  Let’s press on to maturity together.  What does this look like in a church setting; in a community of believers?

Arrogant and self-righteous believers – who are not practicing the humility and unity of Ephesians chapter 4 – will look down on those who are less mature.  They will state, or at least imply, that once you reach some righteous standard, once you reach some level of adherence to our rules, you can be accepted as equals; you can be part of our tribe.  This kind of thinking is exclusive, divisive, and the opposite of grace.

And it rejects what God has already called and created.  He called all of us who embrace the gospel message into His family.  In Him, by Him, and through Him, we are equals in the family God created.  As the hymn says, “We all stand on level ground at the foot of the cross.”

So what does a more inclusive, grace-oriented, and accepting unity look like?  As purveyors of grace, we humbly say, “Come as you are.  All are welcome here.  There is no rule-adherence or righteous standard for joining our group and being part of our lives.”  Does that mean we have no standard such that we welcome sinful practices?  No, not at all.  There are righteous standards aplenty in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles.  But how can we benefit the whole body if we use the standards to block relationships from growing?

Grace does not say there is no standard for obedience.  Grace says, “Let’s proceed to the standard together!  Let’s grow together!”  We are back to the word “together”.  And we will investigate more of what this “together” looks like next time.

In Ephesians 4 verse 1, Paul crosses the bridge between our identity and our behavior.  “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called…”  With that launch, the remainder of the book (chapters 4-6) describes how to live the Christian life.

Paul takes us from our identity (“our calling”) to our behavior (“our walk”).  And he starts right off with a foundational picture of what that walk should look like, given who we are in Christ, when he continues in chapter 4, “…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:2-3).

Our aspiration to humility, gentleness, patience, love, and peace are not related to a self-help formula or a “how-to” recipe.  No, the formula to success to live in a certain way is already inside us and the power to do it is inside us as well.  It is located in the “inner man” (Eph 3:16).  It is located in the “new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Eph 4:24).

This “likeness of God has been created” is just that; a brand new creation.  When we dissect Paul’s reference to us as a “new creation” (I Cor 5:17), the Greek language is very clear that this is something brand new, never seen before.  This is not a remodel, not an improvement on the old you.  Your new righteous self is exactly that; someone brand new.

Do you see how this sets us free from the prison of our past?  God is not out to clean up and improve the efforts of your dead spiritual self that you lived in before Christ.  God is making something brand new in you.  And so in the remainder of Ephesians chapters four, five, and six, the apostle spurs us on to “lay aside the old self” (Eph 4:22) and “live into your righteous self” (Eph 4:24).

Laying aside the old self and putting on the new self is the foundation for obeying every command that follows.  Why?  Because we only have the power to obey if we are putting on the new man.  The old man cannot do it.  Our flesh cannot do it.  There is not enough willpower in your old man to accomplish the righteous life.  The Christian life can only be lived by your new man; a new self that is really Christ living His life through you.

There are many descriptors the New Testament uses to say essentially the same thing about living this life.  Christ living His life though us (Gal 2:20), walking in the Spirit (Gal 5:16), putting on Jesus Christ (Rom 13:14) are all various ways to describe our walk.  When we do these things, obedience flows; and the joy of obedient living grows.

Now, is it too much of a stretch to say that this obedience flows naturally from our new self, an almost unstoppable force?  You tell me.  Because when we walk this way, obedience flows.  Life-giving abundance flows.  Service to others flows.  Giving ourselves away flows.  We feel the power of a river flowing just as Jesus promised in John chapter seven.

“On the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, … ‘He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” ‘  But this He spoke of the Spirit, who those who believed in Him were to receive” (Jn 7:37-39).  May this promise come true by the Spirit in you today!

Last post was just a warm up for unleashing my passion for the link between our identity in Christ and our obedient behavior.  Simply put, the connection between the two unlocks the power and the joy of living the Christian life.  And who does not want more power and more joy?

I believe the New Testament shouts this message to us.  Let’s look at this connection in one of the apostle Paul’s most familiar letters; the book of Ephesians.  This letter is built on the foundation and pattern of explaining who we are in Christ (chapters 1-3) and then developing the idea of how that identity informs our living (chapters 4-6).

Paul spends chapters one through three describing our identity in Christ with these observations.  You are…

• Blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3).
• Chosen to be holy and blameless before Him (Eph 1:4).
• Adopted as sons of God through Jesus Christ (Eph 1:5).
• Forgiven your trespasses (Eph 1:7).
• Lavished with the riches of His grace upon us (Eph 1:8).
• Sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph 1:13).
• Redeemed as God’s own possession (Eph 1:14).

Are you getting the impression that almost every verse of the first chapter of Ephesians describes some aspect of our new identity in Christ?  The pattern continues in chapter two, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places” (Eph 2:4-6).

Continuing, we are…

• Saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8).
• God’s workmanship (Eph 2:10).
• Brought near to God by the blood of Christ (Eph 2:13).
• Reconciled to God and into one body through the cross (Eph 2:16).
• Accessible to God the Father in the Spirit (Eph 2:18).
• No longer strangers and aliens, but fellow-citizens with the saints (Eph 2:19).
• The dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph 2:22).

Concluding this section at the end of chapter 3, we come to Paul’s powerful prayer asking God the Father to reveal to us all the “new” that is available to us through Christ to live the life.  “For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:14-19).

To go from our identity as “beloved by God, made alive with Christ, and raised up with Him” (Eph 2:4-6) to actually “being strengthened with power, feeling Christ dwell in our hearts, and knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (Eph 3:19) is the aspiration of every believer.

Let’s take that journey together as we cross the bridge into chapter four and the application part of this letter.  See you on the other side next time.