How to Think Like a Christian

Now, all the Bible is God-breathed.

All the Bible is useful and edifying,

but we know that there are some parts of the Bible

! that we're more excited to have a sermon about than others.

There are some portions of Scripture

that the church returns to time and time again

in order to be restored and refreshed.

And historically, Paul's letter to the Ephesians

is one of those.

And it's widely regarded as a competitor

of one of the most clear and most powerful books

in all of Scripture.

You know, the Puritan Thomas Goodwin,

he said that this book is the beating heart of Scripture.

You may know that I'm a big fan of John Calvin,

and John Calvin wrote books and preached on most of the Bible,

but this was his favorite.

And even Martin Lloyd-Jones,

who many of you will know is a really big fan of Romans,

even he said that Ephesians is the sublimest

and most majestic expression of the Gospel.

And as we begin today,

I want you to think about the book of Ephesians

as the Ephesian botanical garden.

And before you even walk through the entrance,

I want you to see the winding path

that leads you past some of the most incredible,

beautiful displays.

You can glimpse the incredible flowers

of the blessings of Christ

from chapters 1, verses 3 to 14.

Behind those, you can glimpse

the trees of grace alone and faith alone,

the vine of union with Christ.

Behind those, you can see even more famous passages

about our new life in Jesus Christ from chapter 4

or the whole armor of God from chapter 6.

And after you've imagined the Ephesian botanic garden,

I want you to take one step inside and stop.

And I don't want you to look around

at anything that you find so incredible around you.

I want you to stop and just look down

at the first two verses of this letter.

There are 38 blades of grass there in the ESV,

36 in the NIV,

a mere 30 blades of grass in the Greek.

And this patch of ground

is what some people consider the least sublime

and the least majestic part of this entire garden.

And understandably so.

It's an introductory patch of grass.

But to just dig into this illustration a little bit more,

I believe these first two verses

are the theological equivalent of Bermuda grass.

What is Bermuda grass?

Bermuda grass looks like grass.

It feels like grass because it is grass.

But even though it's very short,

it has roots that stretch up to seven feet deep underneath.

And I know these couple of dozen words before us

don't look particularly interesting,

but what is really impressive

is the thought behind them,

the roots.

And what I want to do today

is to pull these words up by their roots

and really look at the root structure,

the thought behind these words.

Why is Paul saying these precise words

and what does he precisely mean?

Because what we will find

is that the roots here

are tremendously important for us to see.

they're the same roots that you need

in your Christian lives.

Because you need deep roots

to get nutrients

that you need to grow as a Christian.

And so today we're going to have four points,

all relatively brief,

all dealing with how we're supposed to think

as Christians

in order to be able to read

this beautiful letter

and really any portion of Scripture.

But the first thing Paul teaches us in this letter

is how to think about the Bible.

I want you to notice how Paul begins his letter.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus

by the will of God.

And what Paul is doing there

is saying that when you hear

or read this letter,

you are coming face to face,

not just with my words,

but with God's words.

When Paul says he is an apostle,

he's not just throwing in

a generic filler word,

trying to get a little bit more space

in the introduction.

Apostle is an office.

It's an office as sure

as the defense secretary

or the home secretary,

the first minister

or the prime minister.

You know, I know that there are some

Christian denominations

that call their leaders apostles

and they throw around that term.

But real apostles

are only commissioned by Jesus Christ himself.

And it is a title

that was given only to the 12 disciples,

including Judas' replacement,

and Paul.

And it literally means

one sent out.

One sent out by Jesus.

And Jesus gave these specific men

the title of apostle

so that they could function

as his special ambassadors,

as heralds.

And Paul here

is opening up this letter

with his credentials.

An apostle.

On whose authority?

Paul's?

No.

By the will of God.

And that means

when Paul speaks

and writes as an apostle,

he is really speaking

and writing words

with divine authority

on a divine mission.

You know,

when you hear Paul's words

read to you,

you're really hearing them twice.

Not just once.

You hear Paul's words

and Jesus' words

at the same time.

If you could skip forward

in your Bibles

very quickly

to Ephesians 2, verse 17.

Ephesians 2:17

I want you to notice

the precise wording he uses.

He came and preached

peace to you

who were far off

and peace to those

who were near.

And that he there,

who is that?

That's Jesus.

Paul is saying

that Jesus himself

preached to those

who were far off

including the Ephesians.

Including the Ephesians

that he's writing

this letter to.

You know,

how is he able

to say that?

You know,

Jesus himself

technically only

left Judea

a couple of times

and not for very long.

You know,

really the longest stretch

is when he was a baby

when he went to Egypt

and he wasn't doing

any teaching then.

You know,

there is no secret gap year

in the Bible

where Jesus decides

to take a quick trip

to Ephesus

and start teaching

the Ephesians.

That's not what's in Scripture.

The Ephesians

never literally heard

Jesus' own voice

with his precise accent

preach to them.

But still,

they did hear Paul.

They heard Paul

the Apostle.

And it's not,

and it's really the same

not just for Paul's letters

but for the entire Bible.

In the Bible

we have a lot of different authors.

We have a lot of books

in the Bible.

And they're written

by many people.

You can think of

Moses,

David,

Isaiah,

Jeremiah.

We could go through them.

Many of them

have the books

titled after them.

But when it gets

right down to it,

we can talk about Scripture

having two authors.

There's a human author

and there's a divine author.

And when you read

the words

of the Gospel of John,

those words

really are written

by a human man

named John

who knew Jesus

and walked with him.

And all of his friends

could have read

that Gospel

and thought

only John

could have put it that way.

Doesn't that sound

just so much

like John?

And yet every human

author of Scripture

is carried along

by the Holy Spirit.

And every word

they write

is God-breathed.

And every word

of Scripture

are,

these are not just

the words

of a human author

but of God

himself.

And when we read

Scripture

we need to recognize

that we are really

reading

the Word

of God.

That it is

God's Word

to us.

This is so important

for us to see

because it affects

the way

we read Scripture

and the way

we hear Scripture

preached.

And when you read

your Bibles

you need to accept them

not just

as the words

of Paul

not just as the words

of Moses

but as Jesus'

words

as well.

Your Savior

is speaking

to you.

He wants you

to know

your Bibles

and he wants

to teach you

through his Word

more and more

about himself.

Every Christian

is taught

by Jesus.

Every single one.

And you commune

with God

whenever you open

up your Bibles.

What you need

when you read

your Bibles

are really

better eyes.

By that

I don't just mean

better eyes

to see the words

on the page

though that's

obviously very important

and I recommend

reading glasses.

But what you need

are eyes

to see the miracle

that happens

when a Christian

reads the Scriptures.

You know

a sinner

who is distant

from God

is brought

near in Jesus Christ

indwelt by the Holy Spirit

and given new

spirit illumined eyes

to read

their Bibles

and commune

with their Saviors.

And seeing that

should make you

eager

to read

Scripture.

Eager

to just read it

and see

what is there

what has been

given to you

and to commune

with your Savior.

This also changes

the way

we hear preaching.

One of the things

we believe

is that the preaching

of the Word of God

is the Word of God.

And granted

that's only insofar

as preaching

is right and true

and that's

perfectly correct.

Bad preaching

and preaching

that is false

and teaches

bad doctrines

that is not

the Word of God.

But

your goal

when you come to church

is not actually

to hear the preacher.

Your goal

is to hear Jesus.

And really

your goal

is to ignore

the preacher

really as much

as possible

whether you like

them or don't

like them.

Your goal

is to see Jesus

and to hear

His voice.

What you need

when you come

to church

is to be able

to say

the same words

of Ephesians

2.17

that we have

heard Jesus Christ

come to us

and preach

peace.

And that is something

that everyone

in this room

can say

every Sunday

here together

we hear Jesus

preach

peace

to us.

And doesn't

that just fill you

with a little bit

of joy?

Doesn't that fill you

with a little bit

of majesty?

Doesn't it also fill you

with a bit of

helpful trepidation?

Because sometimes

at the end

of a very long week

we're not that eager

to come to church

and we find ourselves

tired and it's hard

to listen.

But what we need

to do is have

this truth

in front of our eyes.

The main point

is that the Word

is the Word of God.

But the second thing

Paul teaches us

in this letter

is how to think

about yourself.

I want you to notice

how Paul describes

the Ephesian church

in chapter 1

in verse 1.

He says

they are saints

or God's holy people

and then also

faithful.

And he's not saying

that some are saints

over here

and that some

are faithful

and he's just

lumping the two

together.

He's saying

that all are faithful

and all are saints.

I want to break

that down

for a minute.

Anyone who

everyone who

understands

here

that to be a Christian

you need to have faith.

That's non-negotiable.

You need to have

faith

and not just

faith in that

really squishy

modern sense

of just hoping

everything's going

to pan out

some way

or the other

but faith

in Jesus Christ.

That's what it

means to be a Christian.

This is why

we talk about

salvation

being by

faith alone.

You are given

faith in Christ

by the Holy Spirit

and then Jesus

saves you

through your faith

not by your works.

But what does

Paul mean here

by saints

or holy people?

when we hear

about saints

we usually

think about

super Christians

super Christians

because we know

that this word

saint

has an

association

with Roman Catholics

and only special

Christians get

that title

saint

saint

Augustine

saint Patrick

most Christians

don't think about

themselves as saints

but that's not the

way the Bible

uses the term.

In the Bible

the word holy

is the word saint

and the word saint

is just the word holy

and all Christians

are described

as holy

it's not something

that's added extra

on top

and that you try

to work up to

after you have faith.

Every Christian

who had faith

in Ephesus

was also holy.

It wasn't something

they had to earn

by their works

after they were a Christian

they were holy

because they were

Christians.

But I don't want you

to but I also want you

to understand

that there's an order

here.

There's an order here

between faith

and holiness

and you can't see

this precise order

in these verses

I grant you

but if you step

take a step back

you can see it

in this letter

and in all of Paul's letters

almost all of Paul's letters

you can cut them in half

with a knife

very very neatly.

The first half

talks about

who you are

in Jesus Christ.

You can see that

in Ephesians chapter 1 to 3.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

It describes

the blessings

you have in Christ

describe what Christ

has done for you

and your new identity

in Christ

and then in chapter 4

it switches gears

and the second half

talks about

what you're supposed

to do

in Jesus Christ.

The great hinge

is in Ephesians 4.1

I therefore

a prisoner of the Lord

urge you to walk

in a manner

worthy of a calling

to which you have

been called.

Paul's saying

that in light of everything

I've just told you

in the first half

here's what you're

supposed to do

you're supposed to act

like it.

You're not supposed

to earn it

but you are supposed

to act like it.

The first half

describes

the second half

commands

and Paul thinks

both are incredibly

important

but he always

puts the commands

after.

We don't follow

God's commands

in order for him

to allow us

to be in Christ

once we've measured up

but precisely because

we are already

in Christ.

We obey

not because we want

to be loved

but because we have

been loved

and we want to show

our love

to God.

What Paul wants

to tell you

is that you are

faithful

and holy

simultaneously.

Maybe that

point about

the whole book

of Ephesians

is a little too

abstract.

Maybe you want it

a little more

simply.

Just look at

Ephesians 2

8-10.

For by grace

you have been

saved through

faith

and this is not

your own doing

it is the gift

of God

not a result

of works

so that no one

may boast

for we are

his workmanship

created in Christ

Jesus

for good works

which God

prepared beforehand

that we should

walk in them.

You are saved

by faith

not by works

but you are also

saved

in order

to glorify

God

through your works

not in order

to try to earn

your ability

to stand before God

not at all

but you are called

to glorify God

and so

I want you to think

about yourself

like this

someone who has

faith in Jesus Christ

but also

someone who

strives

day after day

day in and day out

to be holy

like their savior

imperfectly

yes

one step

forward

maybe in a step

backward

maybe two steps

forward

one step

back

absolutely

but you need to

have faith

and holiness

on the mind

I want you to

think back

to your

catechisms

what do the

scriptures

principally teach

what man is to

believe concerning

God and what

duty God

requires of man

we expect to find

both of those

things in

scripture

something to

grow us in

faith

and something

also to

call us to

greater holiness

to be more

like our savior

and that's what we

expect whenever we

open up any

portion of the

Bible

including Ephesians

something to

feed our faith

and something to

call us to

holiness

but the third

thing Paul teaches

us in this letter

is how to think

about ministry

in verse 2

Paul says

grace to you

and peace

now Paul always

says grace

and peace

in his letters

it's kind of his

phrase

you know in his

letters to Timothy

and Titus he

sometimes adds in

mercy

just for good

measure

but most of

the times

it's grace

and peace

but that's

rather interesting

this is not

a standard way

to open up a

letter in the

ancient world

nobody else

does this

except Paul

but Paul

just does it

out of hand

all the time

and part of

what's happening

here is that

he's actually

trying to pull

off a bit

of a pun

and the Greek

word for

greetings is

kairate

and the Greek

word for grace

is kairis

and so he's

basically giving

Christian greetings

and he's making

grace foundational

to everything

grace is the

first thing

in the Christian

life

grace is the

first thing

I'm going to

mention to you

that's part of

what's happening

but what's

happening here

is also

it's not

simply a pun

this is a

reference

to the

ironic

blessing

of numbers

6

24 to

26

the Lord

bless you

and keep you

the Lord

make his face

to shine upon

you and be

gracious to you

the Lord

lift up his

countenance upon

you and give

you peace

that's the

famous blessing

of the Old

Testament

it's always

pronounced over

God's people

and what is that

blessing it's

simply giving

them grace

and peace

and really

Paul's ministry

and all of

Christian ministry

can be summarized

by those two

words

grace and

peace

this is

precisely what

you should

expect

when you

come

to worship

we come

with guilty

consciences

before God

and we

receive

not the

punishment

due to our

sins

but grace

and peace

we are

invited

to sing

and to

praise

and we

who were

once rebels

in his

sight

are now

able to

say we

have a

perfect

relationship

with

God

and desire

only to

grow in

love of

him

Paul's

ministry

and Christian

ministry

is really

doing the

same thing

as ministry

in the Old

Testament

we here

today

we are not

getting something

fundamentally

different

than Abraham

Isaac

and Jacob

they had

peace with

God

by their

faith

not by

works

they looked

to the grace

of Jesus

and when the

saints gathered

in the temple

or the synagogues

they rejoiced

in the peace

they had

with God

even though

they didn't

deserve it

and that's

why we

preach from

the Old

Testament

that's not

a sidetracked

thing

that's not

something

fundamentally

different

it's for

Christians

something we

are called

to see

and enjoy

we as

Gentiles

we've been

engrafted

into Israel

and we

received

the exact

same thing

Old Testament

Jews did

grace

and peace

now I

grant to

you that

we here

today

we have

a fuller

understanding

of what

those things

are

we understand

grace

and peace

we understand

the grace

of God

in this

that while

we were still

sinners

God sent

his son

to die

for us

on the cross

for our sins

and we

understand

the peace

of God

in this

that our

high priest

has sat

down

at the right

hand

of the majesty

on high

there are no

more ceremonial

laws

there are no

more sacrifices

we simply

have

peace

and we're able

to come

boldly

before God's

throne

not as a

throne of

judgment

but as a

throne

of grace

Abraham

understood

these things

but he understood

them through

a veil

he understood

them by

shadows

he did not

fully understand

who Jesus

was

he saw

his shadow

coming

but he didn't

see his face

and we

have

we have

looked

upon

Jesus

Christ

and we

live on

this side

of Christ

death

and resurrection

and even

us today

here in

Edinburgh

we are able

to say

Jesus

Christ

has come

to us

today

to preach

grace

and peace

to us

sinners

but what we

should strive

to do

as a church

is to offer

grace

and peace

to each

other

we are

miserable

sinners

who have

been given

grace

and peace

from God

and we

gather

together

as a church

to hear

that grace

and peace

preached to

us

that we

may rejoice

in it

that we

may rest

in it

that we

may be

restored

by it

and then

what we

should do

is stand

up afterwards

and seek

to show

that grace

and peace

to each

other

we who

have been

filled

with grace

and peace

should have

it overflowing

into every

parts of

our lives

in equal

measure

what else

can we

do

a church

which

doesn't

teach

grace

and peace

is teaching

a different

gospel

and really

a different

savior

true gospel

ministry

deals with

grace and

peace

and it is

infectious

in the best

of ways

so we're

called as a

congregation

to bear

with each

other

in our

burdens

and also

to encourage

one another

because our

savior

he is a

never ending

fountain

of grace

and peace

but the

fourth and

final thing

Paul teaches

us here

is how to

think about

God

where does

grace and

peace come

from

from God

our father

and Christ

Jesus our

Lord

first

Paul here

is telling

us to

recognize

God is

our father

that is a

profoundly

Christian way

of talking

about God

the Old

Testament

has little

glimpses

of this

but they're

glimpses

you know

Israel

sometimes talked

about God

as a father

to all of

Israel

broadly

more specifically

some of the

Davidic kings

could say

God is acting

as a father

to me

but no

Israelite

opens up

their prayers

by saying

my father

that is a

dramatic change

in the New

Testament

when Jesus

teaches all

of his

disciples

to just

pray

his

prayer

our

father

who

art

in

heaven

that is a

profound

change

and we

see this

blossoming

of father

language

all throughout

we can see

this in

first John

three

one

see what

kind of

love the

father

has given

to us

that we

should be

called

children

of God

father

that's not

a throwaway

term

that is a

profound

important

term

it's

proclaiming

a deep

important

truth

this is a

special

grand

privilege

that we

have as

New Testament

believers

J.I.

Packer says

this is even

grander than

justification

and we all

know we're

big fans

of justification

but being

able to

call upon

God

as father

that is

profound

in the

Old Testament

what's the

highest way

to talk

about God

it's the

covenantal

name

Yahweh

I am

who I

am

but in

the New

Testament

it's just

to cry

out

Abba

father

that's

the most

profound

way you

can talk

about God

think about

the way

that should

affect the

way you

pray

we're able

to approach

God not

simply as a

servant

not even

as a highly

privileged

and forgiven

servant

but as a

son or

daughter

who is

eagerly

welcomed

in where

angels

fear to

tread

someone who

is where

they are

supposed to

be

in and

amongst

the family

we pray

not just

to a distant

God but

to our

father

who has

blessed us

with every

spiritual blessing

of the heavenly

places

and if you're

struggling and

you feel like

the entire

world is just

caving in around

you and you're

at the end of

your rope

you don't need

to sit there

and try to

come up with

the best

theological

phrases

in order to

pray to

God

in order that

he can hear

your plea

you just

need to

cry out

father

and that

is enough

prayer

is family

time

for Christians

and we

gather together

with our

father

but Paul

doesn't just

refer in these

verses to

God the

father

he also

talks about

God the

son

he talks

about

Jesus

Christ

our

Lord

that title

there

Lord

that is a

divine

title

Paul uses

that title

for God

generically

and he's

applying it

to Jesus

and he's

referring to

the father

and Jesus

in the same

breath as if

they are equals

because they

absolutely are

really what I

want you to

understand is that

Paul is a

Trinitarian

and you should

be too

and he's not a

Trinitarian

trying to show

off how much

he understands

and how he's

superior to

everyone

he's not trying

to show off

how he understands

that God is

three persons

father son and

holy ghost

yet one God

the Trinity

is confusing

it is confusing

because it is

mysterious

but Paul is

mentioning this

because he thinks

the Trinity

is tremendously

practical

when he talks

about the

blessings we

have from God

he talks about

the being

from the father

in Jesus Christ

by the spirit

that is him

trying to give

you words

to thank God

more precisely

he's trying

to give you

more to sing

about

not less

does that

just make

instinctive

sense

once you

think about

it

if

God has

truly

saved you

and adopted

you as his

child

and promised

that you

will commune

with him

in all eternity

face to face

don't you think

that we should

strive

to know him

all the better

and speak

of him

as he has

revealed himself

to us

we're called

as Christians

to know

and love

our father

and also

his son

Jesus Christ

our brother

and call

upon him

as well

and our duty

as Christians

is to declare

their worthiness

to worship

them

and to talk

about their worth

to the best

of our abilities

and we can't

do that

without seeking

to know God

as he has

revealed himself

in Jesus Christ

as father

son

and holy ghost

as we close

I want you

to look briefly

at the drum beat

of these two verses

Paul

an apostle

of Christ

of Christ

Jesus

by the will

of God

to the God's

holy people

in Ephesus

the faithful

in Christ

Jesus

grace and peace

to you

from God

our father

and the Lord

Jesus Christ

Jesus

is at the center

of these verses

and Paul

is bringing up

all these different

topics

about the Bible

yourself

ministry

and God

and he's relating

them to Jesus

because he wants

to tell you

who Jesus is

and what he has done

and he wants

to see you

the rich

wants you to see

the riches

that are in Jesus Christ

if you

if we've been

pulling up

these words

and looking

at the roots

underneath

and looking

at their structure

we need to realize

that these roots

are planted

in the soil

that is Jesus Christ

the whole point

of a root

is that you're

trying to get life

and nutrients

out of the soil

and Paul

is digging

these roots

into Jesus Christ

trying to get life

from Jesus

thinking about

the Bible

yourself

ministry

and even God

separated from Jesus

is disastrous

but with Jesus

they make all

the difference

with them

you get Jesus

and you get

the grace

and peace

you get

to enjoy

scripture

as the word

of Jesus himself

and you get

to come before

God

as father

to grow

as a Christian

we need

to have our roots

in Jesus Christ

and he is the one

we must think about

really at the end

of the day

because he's

the whole point

not just of

Ephesians

but of everything

voy