Ephesians through the lens of Holiness

Last week I preached a sermon on Isaiah 6.

You remember the seraphim?

Six-winged angels above God on His throne

crying out,

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of His glory.

The thresholds of the heavenly temple shook.

Smoke filled the place.

It would have been awesome.

You can't walk away from Isaiah 6

without the realization that God is serious about His holiness.

His holiness and our holiness.

God is qualitatively set apart from everything else.

He is an all-consuming fire of moral purity.

And throughout the New Testament,

we read over and over again

that God saves sinners

in order to make them holy

as He is holy.

All by His grace.

He saved us to be qualitatively different

from everybody else.

He wants us to share in His holiness.

That's no burden.

That's joy.

That's joy.

That's joy.

I need to get two things done.

I'm not going to preach on Ephesians 5, 3 through 6 this morning.

And so the note in your bulletin,

I'll be preaching on that next week.

What I'm going to preach on this morning is this.

We're going to do an overview of the book of Ephesians.

And then the second thing I want to help you see

is that there is a really important connection

in the book of Ephesians.

Really important for our holiness.

So let's get reacquainted with the book of Ephesians.

Now if you suddenly found yourself in a city

that you'd never been to before

or you were unfamiliar with,

what would you do?

I'm guessing some of us would look for a map.

I think other of us would pull out our smartphones

and hit our map application

to figure out,

hey, where am I in this city?

I've got a little app on my phone

and I love it.

Because not only it shows me the city,

it shows me where I am in the city.

It's very helpful.

And so this morning,

not only do I want to give you a map

of the book of Ephesians,

I want to show you where we're going to be at

in Ephesians next week.

So we're going to start off by

flying to 45,000 feet

so we can overview the book of Ephesians.

And then we're going to come down to 10,000 feet

so we can see some specific contours.

So it's been over a month and a half

since we were in the book of Ephesians.

I'm not sure if you've realized that.

It's been some time.

And we finished off

having just started Ephesians 5.

And Ephesians is essentially

a sustained line of apostolic logic.

It's progressive.

The first half of Ephesians,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

chapters 1 through 3,

is all about the truth

of who we are in Christ.

It's truth after truth.

Fact after fact.

Full of instruction.

This is who you are.

This is who you are.

This is who you are.

The second half of Ephesians

depends on the first.

After informing us of who we are in Christ

over and over again,

Paul in the second half of Ephesians

exhorts us

over and over and over again.

This is who you are.

This is who you are.

First half.

First half.

Second half.

This is how you live.

Did you hear that word exhort?

That might be an unfamiliar word to you.

It's not extort.

Coaches exhort.

Like Urban Myers of the Ohio State Buckeyes

exhorted his Ohio State Buckeyes

onto victory.

So the first half of Ephesians

who you are in Christ

truth after truth.

The second half

how to live

exhortation after exhortation.

So that's the 45,000 feet overview.

Let's now go down to 10,000 feet.

I want to lay this out

this book

to give you a better sense

of the whole

and where we are in it.

But there's a particular thing

I want you to see

as we go through this.

I want you to help you

to see Ephesians

through the lens of holiness.

God is serious about His holiness.

We need to be serious

about His holiness.

And Ephesians helps us.

So Ephesians 1.1

Here's what you're going to need

to do this morning.

You're going to need your Bible open.

So turn in your Bibles

to Ephesians chapter 1

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

and you might need

to kind of buckle up

because we're going to be moving.

So I'm going to hit the high points

throughout Ephesians

so that you can see

this beautiful book as a whole

and how it bears on our holiness.

So Paul in Ephesians 1.1

addresses the church.

Did you notice how he addresses them?

Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ

to the saints who are in Ephesus.

And last week I told you

that word saints

literally means holy ones.

The holy ones living in Ephesus.

If God had an apostle

and wrote us a letter

it would start this way.

To the holy ones of Christ the King Church

in Kenosha.

Holy.

That's where Paul starts the book.

And then we move to Ephesians chapter 1

Ephesians 1:3–14

verses 3 through 14.

This is an awesome passage

of triune spectacularness.

It's amazing.

God the Father chose us

before the foundation of the world.

That's 1.4.

God the Son redeemed us

by His blood.

1.7.

God the Spirit indwelt us

as a deposit

guaranteeing the inheritance to come.

1.14.

I mean it's triune meganness.

And then 1.4

is what I really want you to see.

We learn that from eternity past

from before the foundation of the world.

God chose us in Christ

so that we should be holy

and blameless before Him.

Christian, when God thought of you

in eternity past,

He chose you.

He set His love on you

in order to make you holy

so that you can stand

in His holy presence

without fear.

From eternity past,

God has loved us

into holiness.

So from the very get-go,

we learn from Ephesians 1,

God chose us for holiness.

Holy ones,

God chose you for holiness.

And then in Ephesians 2,

1-10,

we see how God

makes sinners holy.

He makes sinners holy

by uniting sinners to Christ.

Christ is our holiness.

Christ is our righteousness.

Christ is our life.

And so in chapter 2,

1-3,

we learn what we were

before becoming Christians.

Things I think we already know of.

Before we were Christians,

we were spiritually dead

because of our trespasses and sins.

Deceived by the world

and held captive by the devil.

We were sons of disobedience

and daughters of disobedience.

We were unholy.

And we were under God's wrath,

children of wrath like the rest.

We were under God's

just and holy wrath.

That's who we were.

And then in chapter 2,

verses 4 and 5,

we hear gospel news.

Verse 4,

but God,

that is one of my favorite

but Gods in the Bible.

But God,

being rich in mercy

because of the great love

with which He loves us,

even when we were dead

in our trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ,

for by grace you've been saved.

God loved us into holiness

by uniting us to Christ.

For those Christians in the room,

you're no longer dead in your sin.

You're alive to God

in Christ.

At the moment you were born again,

you were born with a new appetite.

And not for chocolate.

But you were born with an appetite

for holiness.

You were born with a desire to obey.

It might have been a little desire,

but it was there.

You were no longer a son or daughter

of disobedience under God's wrath,

but you were made new.

You became a beloved child of God,

an imitator of God,

according to Ephesians 5.

So you see what happens

in Ephesians 2

is you go from being a sinner

to a saint,

and that's all because

of God's grace in Christ.

He radically changed us.

We were under God's wrath,

and now we are beloved by God fully.

Lavished in His grace.

This is gospel news.

And then in 2.10,

we see why God did this.

He created you in Christ Jesus

for good works,

which God prepared before Him,

that you should walk in them.

God made us alive in Christ,

who is our holiness,

so that we could walk in holiness.

And then we move on to chapter 2,

verses 11 through 22.

Not only have we been united

to Christ individually,

but those of us who have been

united to Christ

have also been united

to each other.

God has placed us

in a new people,

the church.

According to Paul,

it's an entirely new people group.

Not a Jew,

not a Gentile,

a Christian.

And we read in Ephesians 2,

19 through 22,

that God has made His people

the new dwelling place

for His Spirit.

We're the new temple.

Holy.

not a temple made with steel

and cement and stone,

but a temple that is made

of sinners

who were made saints

by God's grace.

We are the dwelling place

of the Holy Spirit of God.

We're a holy people.

This is who we are now.

Chosen by God

from eternity past

for holiness.

United to Christ

so that we could live

holy lives.

And we are being united

to one another

as a holy dwelling place

for God.

Holiness.

So when Paul addresses

the Ephesians as saints

in 1.1,

it means a lot.

Set apart for God

in Christ,

a holy people.

Now,

let's turn the corner.

In the middle of Ephesians

is a transition point.

We see it in chapter 4,

verse 1.

I therefore,

a prisoner for the Lord,

urge you to walk

in a manner worthy

of the calling

with which you've been called.

What Paul is doing here

is he's moving

from explaining

who saints are

to explaining

how saints live.

He's moving

from instruction

to exhortation.

He's saying,

I urge you holy ones

to live real holy lives

because you've been really

called and made holy

in Christ.

Live out who you are

in Christ.

You've been made holy,

so live like it.

And so chapters 1-3,

truth after truth,

instruction of who we are

in Christ.

Gospel truth

after gospel truth.

And then chapters 4-6

is going to be

exhortation after exhortation

to holiness.

Here's how you need

to think about it.

Right down 60th,

there is a train trestle.

And often times

in the morning

you see metro trains

cruising over that thing.

Do you have a picture

in your mind

of one of those

big metro locomotives

and one of those

big blue things

with metro across it

you know what I'm talking about?

Here's how you need

to think about chapters 1-3

in Ephesians.

It is the gospel locomotive.

It is the gospel engine.

It is dynamic.

It is powerful.

It changes things.

This is God's grace

unleashed on us.

It makes us new people.

And so the gospel engine

of Ephesians 1-3

drives the holy exhortations

of Ephesians 4-6.

It's dynamic.

It's powered by God

through the gospel.

He changed us by Christ

and it changes the way

we live our lives.

So moving into Ephesians 4

into all these exhortations

were first exhorted

to unity as a church.

Verses 1-16

the church is one body

with the diversity of gifts

given by one God

for the building up

of the body.

It's an exhortation

to holy unity.

And then Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4:17

verses 17

through chapter 5

verse 21

it's a really big section

and it's exhortation

after exhortation

to live holy lives.

We're exhorted

to put off the old self

be renewed in our minds

and to put on the new self

which is created

in the likeness of God

in true righteousness

and holiness.

What's interesting

is that verses 25

through 425

through 5-2

it seems as though

Paul is emphasizing

holy behavior

within the church.

And then when we get

to 5-3

through 5-21

it seems to have

an emphasis

on our relationship

to people

who are not Christians

those outside

of the church.

Paul says

stop lying.

Paul says

stop stealing.

Paul says

stop being bitter.

Speak the truth.

Give.

Forgive.

Forgive.

Calls us out

of a certain way

of living

as non-Christians live.

And next week

that's where

we're going to pick up

in Ephesians 5

in this section

of how we are

to live

among non-Christians.

We're going to

experience some

exhortations

and some warnings.

But it's all

gospel driven.

Ephesians doesn't

end here.

It continues on.

In Ephesians 5

22-6

9

the Apostle Paul

exhorts us

onto a holiness

in relationship

to other people.

In 5

22-33

wives

are exhorted

to holiness

in relationship

to their husbands.

Husbands

are exhorted

to holiness

in their relationship

to their wives.

In chapter 6

1-4

children

you're exhorted

to holiness

in your relationship

to your parents.

And parents

you're exhorted

to holiness

in relationship

to your children.

chapter 6

5-9

holiness

in the workplace.

And then we get

to chapter 6

verses 10-20

all throughout

Ephesians

there's this

repeated command

walk walk

walk walk

walk

walk walk

walk walk

walk

and when you get

to Ephesians

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

it's stand

stand firm

against the schemes

of the devil.

take a stand

fight the fight

and so where

we're going to end up

is an exhortation

to fight

the spiritual battle

to put on

the armor of God

to stand firm

against the schemes

of the devil.

Christians aren't

jihadists

our battle

is not against

flesh and blood

but against

spiritual forces

and principalities

in the heavenly places.

God provides

everything we need

for that fight

but it's a holy fight.

So there you have it.

A brief overview

of Ephesians

through the lens

of holiness.

God is serious

about holiness.

He's serious

about our holiness.

The first half

truth after truth

of who you are

in Christ.

God has made you

holy in Jesus.

And then the second half

is exhortation

after exhortation.

We are to live out

who we already

have been made.

Holy ones

live holy lives.

So that's where

we're going to pick it up

next week

in Ephesians chapter 5

Ephesians 5:3–6

verses 3 through 6.

But I just want to see

at the risk of overkill

that you are seeing

not only a connection

in Ephesians

but the kind

of connection.

The nature of it.

Gospel truths

drive

holy exhortations.

Gospel truths

who we are in Christ

drive

holy exhortations.

Who God has made us

in Jesus

changes the way

that we live

our lives.

The Gospel fuels

our holiness

which means

ours is a holiness

by grace.

Let me say it this way.

Just speaking personally.

Because I am

a saint

by grace

I strive

for unity

in the church

Ephesians 4.

Because

I have been

made holy

by the blood

of Jesus

I speak

the truth

in love

to others.

Because

God

and the Gospel

has radically

changed me

brought me

from death

to life

by uniting me

to Jesus

I no longer

steal

but I use

my hands

to give.

Because

God

has

chosen me

from eternity

past

bought me

with the blood

of Jesus

and sealed me

with His Spirit

I don't lie

I speak the truth

I don't steal

I give

I don't get bitter

I forgive

give

because I've been

made alive

in Jesus

I imitate

my holy

father

as a beloved

son

and I love

as Jesus

loved

because I'm

blood bought

made righteous

with the righteousness

of Christ

holy

I love my wife

as Christ loved

the church

because God

has changed

me by His

grace

I raise

my children

to fear

the Lord

because God

has delivered

me from the

kingdom of

darkness

into His

kingdom

of the

beloved

son

I fight

now

I fight

a spiritual

battle

do you want

to know

how serious

God is

about your

holiness

God

shows you

from eternity

past

and then

He sent

His son

to die

for you

and caused

His spirit

to dwell

you

so that

you could

be made

new

so that

you could

walk

in holiness

that's how

serious God

is about

holiness

let's pray

together

God in

heaven

we do

praise you

for being

a holy

God

and we

do

thank you

God

for what

you've

done

for us

in Christ

that you

have brought

us in

and we

no longer

fear

there is

therefore

now no

condemnation

for those

who are

in Christ

Jesus

you have

made us

righteous

in your

sight

you welcomed

us as your

sons and

daughters

God

we thank

you

and we

as a

church

come before

you now

and ask

God that

you would

pour out

your

sanctifying

grace

on us

that you

would make

us holy

experientially

that we

would hear

these

exhortations

in the

latter half

of Ephesians

and say

oh God

thank you

we welcome

it

stir us

up God

we ask

help us

to strive

for holiness

we ask

this in

Jesus name

amen