Gospel Identity: Ephesians 1:3-14

Please take out your copy of God's Word. Turn with me to the book of Ephesians, chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

I ask also at the same time that you take out the handout that was given to you on the way in.

I hope it was that we managed to pull that off.

If not, it's okay. That won't be detrimental to your study.

The intention there is to give you a summary statement for the sermon today

that you might mark it up, take a pen out and write, write additional notes.

I would encourage you to take the text that I provided for you,

not because I don't want you to have a copy of God's Word open in front of you.

I don't want to remove things from their context.

It's not what we're trying to accomplish by handing this printed out to you,

but I want you to be able to mark on it.

I want you to have the same translation that I'm using, which is the ESV,

which is not an inspired translation.

It's just a good one.

It's okay if you have another, but this way you'll have those words there in front of you.

If you're new to our fellowship, we typically do verse-by-verse exposition,

and we have been as of late working through the book of Acts.

This has been the great labor in front of us.

We are on the cusp of starting chapter 11,

but because we have just started as a church another church,

we've multiplied into two congregations.

Christ Family Church has become Christ Family Church Dahlonega.

Welcome.

And Christ Family Church Oakwood meeting really kind of flowery branch,

but we're calling it CFC Oakwood,

and they're meeting this morning even now.

And we thought it would be good to take some time to focus and refocus,

make sure that we're all on the same page,

and we're all moving forward together into this next year.

Just as a precursor to this,

I really don't enjoy topical preaching.

I enjoy preaching.

I enjoy teaching things systematically,

or having you at least understand things systematically.

But it is a real work,

because we come to a topic like gospel identity.

Who are we in Christ?

And there is so much to say.

Even just listening to the three songs that we've sung,

there's different things I'm going,

oh, we could talk about that,

and we could talk about it.

And my head is starting to rewrite the sermon that I've already written.

So I'll do my best this morning.

We're going to look at Ephesians 1, verses 3-14.

Ephesians 1:3–14

And I know for some of you, that really gets you excited.

Ephesians 1.

We are not going to look at it in every bit of detail.

And if that dramatically disappoints you,

then I would suggest you care a bit too much about soteriology.

Possibly.

Possibly.

But before I read it,

let me start by reading to you the summary statement for this morning

about our gospel identity,

which reads as follows,

By grace alone, through faith alone,

in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone,

we are justified before God,

forgiven and adopted by Him.

This gospel identity is our great motivation for worship.

Now Ephesians 1, the word of the Lord,

beginning in verse 3.

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 He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ,

according to the purpose of His will,

to the praise of His glorious grace,

with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.

In Him we have redemption through His blood,

the forgiveness of our trespasses,

according to the riches of His grace,

which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight,

making known to us the mystery of His will,

according to His purpose,

which He set forth in Christ

as a plan for the fullness of time

to unite all things in Him,

things in heaven and things on earth.

In Him we have obtained an inheritance,

having been predestined according to the purpose of Him

who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

so that we who were the first to hope in Christ

might be to the praise of His glory.

In Him you also,

when you heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation,

and believed in Him,

were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

who is the guarantee of our inheritance

until we acquire possession of it,

to the praise of His glory.

Beloved, this is God's word to us.

It was written for His glory and for our good.

We would all do well to listen to it

in order to believe its promises

and obey its commands.

Now, before I break down the summary statement,

I want to just take a few moments to look at verse 3.

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.

And you see this word root here being blessed.

Blessed, blessed, and blessing.

And I want to just point out to us very quickly

that just in verse 3,

we note that there is a blesser,

the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You will note that I read that word,

blessed.

I say blessed be.

Not blessed be, but blessed be.

And then when we get to who has blessed,

we tend to read that differently.

And the reason for that

is because they are not the same Greek word.

It's important to note this.

The Greek word here translated,

blessed be,

is eulogio,

which means blessed one or praised one.

We get the word eulogy from this Greek word.

A word of commendation.

Typically, you think of a eulogy

being preached at a funeral.

All of the praise that's given to the person

that has passed.

All of the reasons that we love this person

and the reasons that we will miss this person.

Here, Paul is not communicating

that God needs our blessing,

but that He is already the blessed one.

He is worthy of praise.

He is worthy of honor.

And He is the blesser.

He has blessed us in Christ.

So who are those who are blessed?

Here meaning joyful, enriched.

Those who are in Christ.

Those who have believed in Christ

are blessed by God.

Apart from faith in Christ,

a person is in a grievous state.

Romans 3.23-26 reads,

All have sinned and fall short

of the glory of God.

There's no one exempt from this.

Everybody in the world

is the condition of man.

Apart from Christ,

all have sinned.

They all fall short.

They all fail to measure up

to the holiness required of God

on our behalf to be pleasing before Him.

And this puts us in this grievous state

because God hates sin.

And because God hates sinners,

they are an affront to His character.

The person who is in the state of sin

openly and willingly rejects God as king.

Good king.

Given to us a good word

and we disregard it.

And we have it as our own.

It's a saying that God hates sin

but loves the sinner.

And that's so true in part,

but it's not completely true.

Let me show you why.

Psalm 11.5 says,

The Lord tests the righteous,

but His soul hates the wicked

and the one who loves violence.

The person who has not placed their faith in Christ

is in a grievous state

because the wrath of God

is being stored up for them.

Beloved, we must understand this.

I hear on a regular basis

about people who come and visit

and why they won't come back.

And some of you might find yourselves

in that place this morning.

One of my favorite complaints

is that I don't make people

feel good about themselves.

building up your self-esteem.

Be damned if you'll be damned.

Care about your souls.

This is a weighty thing that we do.

Considering the truth of God

and what it means for our lives

matters.

Doctrine matters.

The truth opened up to you.

This is why I say every Sunday,

this is God's Word to us.

You would do well to listen to it.

Believe His promises.

Obey His commands.

You must understand

that God hates sin.

And God hates sinners.

He will punish sinners.

But the wonderful truth of the Gospel

is that at the same time,

God loves sinners.

Praise Him.

I was loved by God

and saved by God

as a sinner.

So the statement,

God hates sin but loves the sinner

is partially true.

It should say,

God hates sin and hates the sinner

and loves the sinner.

And it's a difficult thing

for us to comprehend that

because we're not God.

God.

And we fail so often

to understand God

by His revealed Word

because we want to put ourselves

in His shoe.

How dare we?

We can't possibly understand

how it is that God

can both hate and love

at the very same time,

but He does.

And there's a beautiful picture

of this.

The great high point of redemption,

the cross of Christ.

where He loves us

as He hates us.

He pours out His wrath

on Jesus.

The hatred towards us.

Jesus takes us.

Propitiation.

He takes on our sin

and He pours His wrath

out on it.

It's a great loving act

on His part.

Verse 24.

Romans 3.

And are justified

by His grace as a gift

through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward

as a propitiation,

a blood sacrifice replacement

to be received by faith.

This was to show

God's righteousness,

God's perfection,

because in His divine forbearance,

He had passed over

former sins.

It was to show His righteousness

at the present time

so that He might be just

punishing sin in Christ

and the justifier

of the one who has faith

in Jesus.

If you have believed in Christ,

you are saved by God

from God to God.

God is the blesser.

Those who have placed faith

in Christ are the blessed.

What is the blessing?

Paul here writes

that we're blessed

with every spiritual blessing

in the heavenly places.

And there's much

that could be said

at this point.

But the idea of it being

a spiritual blessing

speaks not to the extent

of the blessing

or the particular outworking

of the blessing.

Paul's not here

talking about spiritual

gifting in its entirety.

What he's speaking to

is the source

of the blessing.

It comes from God Himself.

We are blessed spiritually

because God is Spirit

and has given us blessing.

Not only that,

but He's given us

every spiritual blessing.

We have all the power

that we need

to love as we should,

to have peace and joy,

to find contentment,

to be obedient in all things,

etc., etc., etc.

And He has blessed us

with every spiritual blessing

in the heavenly places

which refers to the domain

of God.

Not just future blessing,

although future blessing

is included in this,

but present blessing now

as those of us

who have placed faith in Christ

are part of God's kingdom.

If you have believed in Christ,

you are blessed in Christ

with a new identity.

A gospel identity.

which I have summarized

with a portion of today's

summary statement,

the middle portion of it,

we are justified before God,

forgiven,

and adopted by Him.

And I'll speak at length

to the portion

of the summary statement,

but let's take the statement

in its written order

and ask the question first,

what is the cause

of our gospel identity?

If you have placed faith

in the personal work

of Jesus Christ,

you are justified before God,

forgiven and adopted by Him,

but what is the cause

of this gospel identity?

The first part of our statement,

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in the personal work

of Jesus Christ alone.

Beloved, we undoubtedly

must believe in Christ.

I like the clarification.

You have heard me

or you will hear me

if you stick around,

in the person and work

of Jesus Christ.

I think my head's tallied

at least a dozen times.

I've said it already

this morning.

In the person

and the work,

to believe that Jesus

is who He said He was,

that He is the Son of God,

and that He lived

a perfect life,

that He died a sinner's death,

that He was raised

on the third day,

that He's ascended

and seated with the Father.

We must believe these things.

When we say we must believe

in Christ,

it means that we believe

all of those things.

It doesn't mean

that we believe

that Jesus was a good teacher,

but that He was the Son of God.

That we place our faith in Him

for the remediation of our sin.

Not just that we believe

that He could be our buddy.

There's specifics about

what we must believe

about Christ

to be saved by Him.

But undoubtedly,

we must believe.

Paul writes in Romans 10.9,

if you confess with your mouth

that Jesus is Lord

and believe in your heart

that God raised Him

from the dead work,

you will be saved.

Our text this morning

confirms this.

You can look at verse 12

and verse 13.

I underline these

with squiggly marks

on my page.

So that we who were the first

to what?

Hope in Christ.

There's a work on our part.

We hoped in Christ.

In verse 13,

in Him you also,

when you heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation,

and believed in Him.

So something happens.

Something takes place

in our conversion.

We place faith

in the person and work

of Jesus Christ.

So you could say

that our faith is the cause

of our gospel identity.

That would be accurate.

Our faith is the cause

of our gospel identity,

but what is the cause

of our faith?

What made dead people

who were bent against

the worship of God

suddenly decide

to worship God?

Our text this morning

speaks to this.

I don't intend at this moment

to make a complex

soteriological argument.

If you don't know

what soteriology is,

that's probably okay.

It's the study

of the doctrines

of salvation.

I hope you're familiar

with the doctrines

of salvation though.

I don't care to work out

all the intricacies

of such doctrines,

precious though they are,

but for the sake

of your understanding

of your gospel identity.

If you've placed faith

in Christ,

person and work,

you need to see

that God is the cause

of your faith.

It's very important

to see the way

in which God brings

things about faith

in the life

of a believer.

I don't want

to get into

a debate about this.

These doctrines

are taught to you

to give you

a pillow

to rest your head on

and I want to show you

why.

Note with me

some phrases

and some verses

in our text.

I put these in parentheses

if you're marking

yours up.

verse 4,

He,

being God,

chose us

in Him,

being Jesus Christ,

when?

Before the foundation

of the world.

Don't make this

too complex, beloved.

Paul's not trying

to pull some

semantical tricks

on us here.

Read it as it reads.

It's the doctrine

of the clarity

of Scripture.

He chose us in Him

before the foundation

of the world.

Before all of this

came to be,

before original sin,

there was a plan

in place.

Christ was always

plan A.

Never a plan B.

And God chose us

in Christ

before the foundation

of the world.

Very last part

of verse 4

and verse 5.

I don't understand

why the numbers

fall this way.

In love,

He predestined

us

according

to the purpose

of His will.

Again,

according to His purpose

in verse 9.

Verse 11.

Having been

predestined

according

to the purpose

of Him

who works

all things

according

to the counsel

of His will.

It's very difficult

to get around this.

And I know

that for some of you,

your brains

are racing out

implications.

Stop.

Calm down

for a minute

and look at

what Paul's

trying to

communicate to us.

He's simply

trying to say

that our faith

was brought about

by God.

Why is that

going to be important?

I'll tell you

momentarily.

Don't get away

from this.

The word

predestined

is such a scary

word this day.

But I'll tell you

what it means.

In Greek,

it means

decided beforehand

or predetermined.

Paul's statement

in verse 4

so beautifully

defines the word

for us.

Chose us in Him

before the foundation

of the world.

Predetermined.

Decided beforehand

that we would

believe in Christ.

So what is the cause

of our gospel identity?

Ultimately,

God.

Specifically,

God's grace to us.

In His loving kindness,

He brought about

faith in us.

If you look just

a little further on

in Ephesians 2,

beginning in verse 8,

Paul says,

For by grace

you have been saved

through faith.

And this is not

your own doing.

Paul's referring here

to the faith,

not to the grace.

And this is not

your own doing.

It is the gift

of God.

Not a result

of works.

Why?

So that no one

may boast.

Oh, proud me,

I have faith.

Oh, poor pitiful me,

I would not have faith

apart from Christ.

Oh, Christ

is to be praised.

Why is this doctrine

important to your

understanding

of your gospel identity?

It's important

because your identity

is secure.

It was wrought

by God.

He brought it about

and He will not

change His mind.

God made you

and He will keep you.

Numbers 23, 19.

God is not man

that He should lie

or of son of man

that He should change

His mind.

Has He said

and will He not do it?

Or has He spoken

and will He not

fulfill it?

Paul says in Romans 8,

Romans 8:29

verse 29 and 30,

for those whom He foredo,

He also predestined

to be conformed

to the image of a son

in order that He might

be the firstborn

or preeminent

among many brothers.

And those whom He predestined,

He also called.

And those whom He called,

He also justified.

And those whom He justified,

He also glorified.

Future tense,

one day we will be made

entirely perfect

and be in His presence

forever.

So who has brought about

this gospel identity

that we're speaking about today?

It's God, beloved.

You may not know this,

but I call you beloved.

I'm hoping that I'm referring

to everyone in the room.

When I say beloved,

I'm referring to Christians.

Jesus calls His own Son,

God calls His own Son,

Jesus, beloved.

And that's a title

passed on to us,

loved in Christ.

Adopted sons and daughters

of the Most High.

So what is our gospel identity?

Again, here we are,

middle of the phrase,

we are justified before God,

forgiven and adopted by Him.

We are justified before God.

To be justified before God

means to be declared righteous

before God as our judge.

It's a courtroom term.

Standing before a judge

and the judge not only

dismisses our offense,

our sin has been forgiven,

but also declares us perfect.

There's two sides to justification.

Right?

Verse 4 says that we should be holy

and blameless before Him.

If you are in Christ,

if you have believed in Him,

you stand before God justified.

And there's really not another great word

for this word.

Two sides of the coin.

Debt canceled

and a deposit has been made.

Christ took your sin.

The debt has been canceled.

Christ gave you His righteousness.

You're seen as perfect before God.

We are justified, beloved.

Important, important doctrine

to understand who we are.

We've been forgiven.

Verse 7,

in Him we have redemption

through His blood,

the forgiveness of our trespasses.

We have been adopted.

Verse 5,

He predestined us for adoption

as sons through Jesus Christ.

And ladies,

it's okay that Paul is using this terminology

because culturally,

you want to be a son.

Sons got inheritance.

Sons took over the Father's place.

Women at this time

had very little rights to inheritance.

Very little.

They needed to marry into family

to have those things.

So, to call you a son of God

is not a gender offense

in this way.

We've been adopted as sons

through Jesus Christ.

And I fear in my own mind

and sometimes then

in your minds

that here as we

hold high God

and we present Him

as sovereign King,

as ruler,

as creator and sustainer,

which He is,

all of those things

that we sometimes forget

to call Him Father.

And as we talk about Christ

as the prophet,

priest,

and king,

supreme in all things,

we forget to call Him

friend.

Our relationship is

deep and intimate

with the Lord of the universe.

And this is an astounding reality.

J.I. Packer,

in his work entitled

Knowing God,

which you should read,

wrote the following,

that justification

by which we mean

God's forgiveness

of the past

together with His acceptance

for the future

is the primary

and fundamental blessing

of the gospel

is not in question.

Justification

is the primary blessing

because it meets

our primary spiritual need.

We all stand by nature

under God's judgment.

His law condemns us.

Guilt gnaws at us,

making us restless,

miserable,

and in our lucid moments

afraid.

We have no peace

in ourselves

because we have no peace

with our Maker.

So we need the forgiveness

of our sins

and assurance

of a restored relationship

with God

more than we need

anything else

in the world.

And this,

the gospel offers us

before it offers us

anything else.

But contrast this now

with adoption.

Adoption is a family idea

conceived in terms of love,

and viewing God

as Father.

In adoption,

God takes us

into His family

and fellowship.

He establishes us

as His children

and heirs.

Closeness,

affection,

and generosity

are at the heart

of the relationship.

To be right with the God,

the judge,

is a great thing.

But to be loved

and cared for by God,

the Father,

is greater.

this is who we are

in Christ.

Accepted by God

and drawn into

a familial relationship

with Him.

And beloved,

this is based

in His work

before the foundation

of the world

that we might have faith

and believe

in the personal work

of Jesus Christ.

I hope that even

if that's a strange doctrine

to you,

that you could see

the beauty of it.

I hope to say,

I can rest in that.

That in the midst

of all of the best

that I am,

I am God's

in Christ.

That's our gospel identity.

That's what He's done

on our behalf.

And it should rightly

have some effect

in our lives.

If you are Christ's,

you don't have the option

from to be merely

your Savior

and not also

your Lord.

He said,

those who love me

keep my commandments.

It becomes the natural

response

of the heart

that's been turned

to God in Christ

to follow Him.

To be His disciples.

And far too long,

we've had presented

in America

a complacent Christianity

that says,

it's just okay

that you show up

and you consume.

We're just happy

you're here.

We're happy you're here

because we want you

to be engaged

in obedience

to Christ

in the world.

It's good for the world

and it's good for you.

How dare we not

press obedience

on the people of God?

How dare we not

show them

the great joy

that's found in Christ

and obedience

to Him?

We won't be doing

that here anymore.

You're either

going to get caught up

in the mission of God

because you're His

or you're going to get

really uncomfortable

around here.

What is

the effect

of our gospel

identity?

Last sentence

of our summary statement.

This gospel identity

is our great motivation

for worship.

Because of what God

has done for us

in Christ,

we worship Him.

I am not simply

referring to

congregational singing.

I appreciate it.

It's been said a few times

already this morning.

It's a poor nomenclature

that we call

singing in church

worship.

It is worship,

but it's not all

that worship is.

I think that some people

begin to think

that that's the extent

of it all.

It's a type of worship.

Musical worship.

But worship,

beloved,

is all that we do.

It extends into

every aspect

of our lives.

It is sharing

the gospel.

It is showing up

on Sunday morning

and singing songs.

It is listening

to sermons preached.

It is preaching sermons.

But it is also

washing dishes

and changing diapers

and vacuuming floors.

All of those things

in life

are done

to the honor

and glory

of God.

This is also

worshipped.

Your purpose

as a justified,

redeemed,

and adopted person

is to live

as a holy person

in all things

to the praise of God.

God.

I say to my sons,

those of you

who don't know me,

I have three sons now.

I have a six-year-old,

a four-year-old,

and an almost

four-month-old.

So to the older two,

I say,

boys,

my sons

obey their father.

Are you acting

like my sons

right now?

And they go,

well, you are my sons,

aren't you?

My sons

obey their father.

And when they're

punished,

when I discipline them,

I get a spanking

and they're sent

off to their room

to lay in their bed.

We reconcile afterward

and I always say,

you're my son

and I love you

and that's why

I want you to

obey.

Your father is good

and he cares about you.

He is concerned.

And let me tell you

that I fail

so often at this,

but God never fails

to give us good

and right

and proper commandment

for us

to live

and flourish

under his

rule.

You hear me say

to the kids

on Sunday mornings,

I love you,

which is why

I want to remind you

that God loves you,

which is why

he gave you

parents that love you,

which is why

you should

obey them.

We glorify God

when we act

in appropriate response

to who we are

in Christ.

We bring him

great honor.

Not that he needs it

bestowed upon him,

but we show him

for who he actually is

when we live

in accordance

with what he's

done for us

in Christ.

Note this

in our text.

Ephesians 1,

Ephesians 1:6

verse 6,

you'll see the phrase.

I did a big scribbly

circle around these

phrases.

To the praise

of his glorious grace.

Verse 12,

to the praise

of his glory.

Verse 14,

to the praise

of his glory.

There are two types

of magnification.

This is a classic

John Piper.

Type of magnification

that a microscope does

where it makes something

very, very tiny.

It looks bigger

than it is.

Many people think

of glory in that way.

Glorifying God

in that way.

This is not the case

at all.

The type of magnifying

we do

is making something

that's huge

and massive

and far off

and distant

look much more

like it actually is.

And in obedience

we do this.

We magnify God

in that way.

We show him

to be king

and ruler

in our hearts.

In Matthew 7,

Matthew 7:17

verses 17 and 18,

Jesus says,

So,

every healthy tree

bears good fruit.

But the diseased tree

bears bad fruit.

Good trees bear good fruit.

Bad trees bear

bad fruit.

Verse 18,

A healthy tree

cannot bear bad fruit

nor can a diseased tree

bear good fruit.

We are changed

by God

from a bad tree

only producing evil

to a good tree.

This reality

is the doctrine

of regeneration.

This is the new birth.

We're not the same

anymore.

We're made new.

We're not changed

in degree.

We don't encounter Christ

and we're made

a little better.

We're changed

in kind.

Subliminally,

!

Subtly,

maybe not so much.

The church has a new logo.

The astute amongst you

have noticed this.

We had a bunch of trees

before.

It's a single tree now.

Mostly Facebook

and Instagram

that's forcing everything

into circles and squares

is causing this.

But,

when you see this logo,

I want you to think

good tree.

Who am I

in Christ?

In Christ,

I'm a good tree.

What do good trees do?

Good trees produce

good fruit.

On the front of your bulletin,

you'll see a

Spurgeon

quote.

I do this

because I want to

connect you to history.

I want to connect you

to the church

that existed before.

These are

blessed brothers.

We stand on their shoulders.

They have so much wisdom.

And Spurgeon says things

so much better than I do.

He wrote,

God works in man

a change so great

that no reformation

can even so much

as thoroughly imitate it.

So,

no change a man can do

can even imitate

the change that God

brings about in a man.

It is an entire change.

A change of the will

of the being

of the desires

of the hates

of the disliking

and of the likings.

In every respect,

the man becomes new

when divine grace

enters into his heart.

Our gospel identity

produces obedience,

but we do not become

perfectly obedient,

do we?

Oh, I wish we did.

We do not become

perfectly obedient.

And I think we can

muse about the why

of that at length.

I think one of the

primary reasons for it

is that we still have

our flesh

and we carry that around.

And I have to tell you

that for me,

I sympathize deeply

with lost people

because I see

the vileness

of my sin.

I step back

into my old self-functioning

and I remember

how miserable

I was before Christ.

My heart goes out

to people who don't

know him

because I still

need him.

There's a concept,

a biblical concept,

first systematized

by Augustine

called the fourfold

state of man.

I think we have a slide

for this.

It was later made popular

in a book entitled

Human Nature

in Its Fourfold State

by a man named

Thomas Boston.

He was a 17th century

Scottish pastor

and theologian.

So this is a biblical concept.

It's taught in the scriptures.

I'm going to show it

to you in Latin.

And not again,

I'm not doing this.

I don't quote people

and do this

because I want you

to think that I'm smart

because I'm not.

I steal everything

that I present to you.

There's nothing new

under the sun.

I'm just a mockingbird.

For me,

Latin helps me

remember things.

And that may not be

the case for you,

but getting phrases

in my mind in Latin

helps me remember things.

But in addition to that,

I want you to be comfortable

in some respect with Latin

because if you read

the guys you should be reading,

the old dead guys,

they do this a lot.

They just throw Latin phrases

into the mix of things.

And you need to know

that it's Latin

and you need to try

to start figuring out

what these things mean.

With no explanation,

they'll just use a Latin phrase

and keep on going.

So I want you to get

comfortable around Latin.

So you're going to see it

a bit more

in our meetings together.

But the fourfold state of man

is a biblical concept,

systematic theology here

being brought together.

The very first state

is the state of innocence.

This is the pre-fall state.

Only two people ever lived

in the pre-fall state,

the state of innocence,

Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve.

And in that state,

they had

passe non pecare,

et passe pecare.

Right?

The power

not to sin,

passe non pecare,

and

et the power to sin,

passe pecare.

They had both.

They could do either.

And we see that picture.

Genesis chapter 2

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

into the beginning

of Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

They commanded not to eat

of a tree.

And what did they do?

They eat of the tree.

They didn't have to eat of the tree.

They had the power

to do either.

Passe non pecare,

et passe pecare.

And they immediately,

and all that have followed them

at birth,

enter into

what's secondly called

the state of nature.

The state of nature.

The post-fall,

pre-conversion state.

If you are not in Christ

this morning,

if you know people

who are not in Christ,

this is where they function.

And in this state,

people only have

the power

to sin.

Passe pecare.

Even things that we would deem

as good activity

are not rightly motivated

by faith

through the glory of God

and therefore

they're sin.

Passe pecare.

Thirdly,

you have the state of grace.

The converted state.

If you're in Christ,

this is where we find ourselves.

Gospel identity

is what we're talking about.

So this is where we land

in the third state,

the state of grace.

And we once again

return to

the nature

of the state of innocence.

Passe non pecare

et passe pecare.

We have the power

not to sin.

Praise God

by the work of the Spirit.

We're made new.

We have the power

not to sin.

And

we have the power

to sin.

We still choose

to be disobedient.

And then fourthly,

and praise God

for the fourth,

the eternal state,

the glorified state,

when we will

only have power

not to sin.

Passe non pecare.

We long for that day.

Passe non pecare

is the truth.

So,

we find that living

as a holy person

for the praise of God

in the state of grace

takes effort.

Our salvation is monergistic.

It's a work of God.

God works.

We're saved.

Our sanctification,

the process of becoming

like Christ,

is a synergistic process.

We work

and God works.

Wonderful proof text for this

is Philippians 2,

12 and 13.

Paul writes,

Therefore, my beloved,

as you have always obeyed,

so now,

not only as in my presence,

but much more in my absence,

work out your own salvation

with fear and trembling.

Verse 13,

for

this is the reason

for the fear and trembling,

for

it is God who works in you

both to will

and to work

for His good pleasure.

So,

you work,

God

works.

And too often, beloved,

those who

hold dear

the sovereignty of God,

those who understand

our need

of grace

become complacent

and lazy

as if we're waiting

to be compelled

to obedience,

animated,

I should even say

to obedience.

I hear so much

from you.

This is what I want to do.

I really desire to do.

But then you don't do it.

If the desire is genuine,

you will go.

You will do the thing

that you said

you would do.

I think sometimes

you desire me to think

that you desire to do

the things you're supposed to do.

we will be obedient

and it takes effort

on our part.

It takes work

on our part.

Our sanctification,

biblically,

biblical sanctification

is progressive.

We've got a slide

for this one as well.

You've heard me say this before.

You can see it in picture now

because it's

going to astound you.

I know, right?

Yay for visuals.

You need to see, right?

Moving towards holiness, right?

Away from unrighteousness,

towards righteousness.

Looking more like Christ.

Across time,

we progress.

We still sin, right?

There's downward spikes

in this.

But we keep working

our way upward

by the grace of God

toward Christ's likeness.

longing one day

for glorification

where we will be

made perfect,

complete.

That process will be over.

Progressive sanctification.

And there are a lot

of erroneous views

on sanctification.

I don't have time

for it today,

but there are popular

erroneous views.

Methodism

is a dangerous one.

If you grew up

a Methodist,

you may not even think

this way.

You may think

the proper biblical way

about sanctification,

but many Methodists

have a skewed version.

Wesleyan sanctification

is not biblical sanctification.

Tezik sanctification

is another one

you need to watch out for.

And both of them

suggest that we have

spikes in our life

where we suddenly

become holy.

And then we live

that existence out.

I've never talked

to a Methodist,

for example,

that's ever said that

to me

and ever seemed

to believe that.

I've heard a tale

of some older Methodists

that have claimed

to be perfect

for decades.

They've reached

that point.

that point of perfection

and they've moved on

from there.

All the offense

to the Gospel

that that is.

Sanctification is

progressive

and it's synergistic.

And we're going

to begin talking

as a church

about four areas

of sanctification.

Four areas

of good fruit bearing

if you prefer.

Four areas

of Christian living.

and we're going

to talk about those

in the next four weeks.

I want it to be a thing

that you're talking

about together.

You can structure

all of your Christian

meetings around

these things

to be sure

that this activity

is happening

in one another's lives.

These things

are disciplines

of grace to us.

They're things

we must work at

and lean into.

They're places

that we experience Christ.

We're so motivated

and our joy

when we get to be

caught up

in His work

in the world.

They matter.

And there's different

ways to structure this

but we're going to

structure it

in the following way.

Number one,

conviction.

Those of you who are

members and got

the member health survey,

this has been subtly

getting interjected as well.

We asked you questions

based on these four

different areas

and we'll be talking

about some of the results

of that survey

in the coming weeks.

Conviction.

What do we believe

to be true

about God,

about ourselves,

about Christ?

How well do we know

the scripture

and how does that

turn us to prayer?

My suggestion is

that if we have

proper convictions

we will pray a lot

and we'll pray properly.

So conviction.

Second,

community.

We've been given

to a community.

We've been saved

certainly as individuals

but we've been saved

as a people.

Community is a grace

to us.

Young people,

college students,

freshmen up here

don't neglect this grace.

Too many college students

have gone asunder

as a result.

A thirdly,

character.

Who are we supposed

to be both in private

and in public

as a result?

What are the things

that characterize

the Christian?

And fourthly,

commission.

We cannot say

that we're disciples

of Jesus Christ

if we're not on

the mission of Christ,

the redemption

of His people

in the world.

And so we're going

to be pressing

at these things.

We're going to be

ramping up the expectations

on members

and just kind of

trying to draw

those of you

who aren't members

into what we're doing.

And we'll be talking

about these things

at length

in these four areas.

I really hope

in a year

you are just

sick and tired

of hearing about

the four C's

but that it's changed

the way you live

by grace.

What is happening

when we sin

is a failure

to remember

who we are?

Beloved,

it always goes

back to identity.

You have failed

to believe

in the moment

that you sin

the wondrous truth

of the Gospel.

You have forgotten

who you are.

My sons forget

that they're my sons

when they're disobedient.

The Gospel-centered Christian,

the person who's

recognizing

who they are in Christ,

is humble

before God.

I am failing you

if you leave this place

feeling good about yourself.

I don't want you

to feel good about yourself

but I want you

to feel good about Christ

and then who you are in Him.

Don't walk out of here

with your head hung low

but recognize

who you once were

and who you still tend to be

and praise God

for what He's done for you

in Christ.

The Gospel-centered Christian

is humble before God,

recognize that they

could do no good thing

to gain God's favor,

is motivated

by their Gospel identity

to obedience.

In their failures,

they repent quickly,

confess to the Lord

and get back into the race,

straining for what lies ahead.

The Gospel-centered Christian

boasts only in the cross

of Jesus Christ.

Paul says,

Galatians 6.14,

but far be it from me

to boast except in the cross

of our Lord Jesus Christ

by which the world

has been crucified to me

and I to the world.

Gospel-centered Christianity,

right?

Recognizing our identity

and working as a result

out of that.

And as so many Christian doctrines

are this way,

there's a tight rope

to walk on

and we try to get

right down the middle,

but there's always

two ways to fall off.

And I want to just expose you

to those two ways

and I want to ask you

to consider

if you fall into these,

which one you fall into.

You do at times.

I'm assured.

The first

is the self-loving Christian.

Self-loving Christians.

Self-loving Christians

find themselves justified

by their obedience.

Find themselves justified

by works.

They're self-righteous.

They're always good enough.

They view God

as loving them

just as they are.

They view God

as properly loving them

as if He's saying,

why wouldn't I love you?

You're doing so good.

These people always have

an outward trapping

of having it put together.

Never question

their own motivations

for why they do

the things that they do.

They believe that they deserve

God's grace,

which is an oxymoron.

The other side

of that tightrope

to fall off of

and just knowing our church

most of us

find ourselves here

is the self-hating Christian.

Self-hating Christian

knows that they will

never be justified

by their obedience.

So,

they try to be justified

by their penance.

They know they can't ever

do enough work.

They get that doctrine right.

But rather than placing

their identity in Christ

and His righteousness,

they seek to

beat themselves up

over their sin.

not true repentance,

but just penance.

Walking around

with a head hung low,

not remembering

that they've been

forgiven and adopted.

They stand before God

justified in Christ.

Self-hating Christians

are never good enough.

They view God

as unable

to love someone

as wretched

as them.

There's two ways

to fall off

rather than coming

back to the center

saying that we're

to be humble before Him.

No good

in and of myself.

Nothing I could do

to earn God's favor,

but praise be to God

that in Christ

He has loved me.

He has justified me.

He has forgiven me.

He has adopted me.

I am His.

This is His work.

And I fail

to live for Him

as I ought,

but praise the Lord,

my sins were wiped away

the cross of Calvary.

What a motivation

to act

and to move

and to want to honor Him

with the way that I live.

Confession

for the gospel-centered

Christian

goes quickly.

We repent,

we turn from sin,

and we move.

Oh, again.

Oh, this thing

that keeps coming up

in my heart.

This thing that doesn't belong

is not as it ought to be.

Lord, I confess,

this is an offense to You.

I know that,

and I hate it.

Help me to put it to death.

Help me to live righteously

for You,

and then we go.

We act.

We do.

We're obedient.

So it comes back

to how we walk,

what we understand,

by grace alone

through faith alone.

In the person and work

of Jesus Christ alone,

we are justified

before God.

Forgiven

and adopted by Him.

This gospel identity

is our great motivation

for worship,

and I look forward

to bringing out

the implications

of the way

that carries out

in our lives

over the next four weeks.

Let's pray together.