Introduction to Ephesians(3)

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Introduction to Ephesians (3)

The strength of Christians, called saints, comes from holiness.

Therefore, it is written, "Be you holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16).

If someone were to worship God in heart and sincerity , this person would undoubtedly worship God with all their might, in the form of a sacrifice.

They would truly focus their hearts and sing praises and pray.

However, can a human being, who is of flesh and blood, truly worship God, who is spirit?

To know that we have been holy by truth means that we have received the grace of the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross, who raised from the dead, and have been found in Christ, and have become one with Christ in the Holy Spirit, following the truth, and are ready to approach the Father.

Holiness means to be set apart from the old self and to be counted as a new self.

The Christian life is not about serving God with all one's heart, soul, and diligence, but rather, as a new creation born again, struggling to live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

From there, keep ourselves  sanctified by following the truth, and holy conduct will emerge.

The cross we once passively bore becomes the cross we actively bear and follow the Lord.

The cross of Christ is to transfer us from being in Adam into Christ.

Therefore, Christ and the word together are called the message of the cross.

Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross, died, and rose again to bring us from death in Adam to life in Christ, from darkness to light, and from the devil to God.

It is not just the cross, but the message of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18).

To those who keep the mystery of dying and rising again with Christ, the Word (John 1:1), righteousness and holiness come, and it becomes the power of God.

Those who have realized this profound and mysterious message of the cross will be able to confess daily, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

We must know and believe in Christ of the new covenant, who gave up His body on the cross for our sins and sent the Holy Spirit to be present in us, gives himself for us to eat and drink his body and blood.

Like the two Azazel goats.

Such people firmly believe in a change of status.

That's why even Reformed theologian Steven Lawson says God is more interested in holiness than in your abilities.

Salvation begins not with your personal level, effort, or deeds, but with a clear change of status.

While we can create a holy appearance ourselves, the holiness we, who belonged to Adam, possess in Christ is impossible without the merits of Christ's death on the cross and being raised.

Only on this foundation of holiness can we, as children of God who have been saved, manifest our power as a holy temple where God dwells in the Holy Spirit.

Whoever receives Christ has eternal life (1 John 5:12) and becomes a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

After receiving Christ, Christ should grow within us and our ego should diminish. This is normal.

When we eliminate our ego, we reach fullness.

The church accepted Christ as Lord, just as a wife accepts her husband.

From that time on, Christ reigns as the head of the church.

Just as when a woman marries and takes a husband, the husband becomes the head of his wife and leads her.

Therefore, Ephesians 5 speaks of the husband and wife as a metaphor for Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32).

When we first receive Christ, we know him as the Son of God, as the Word and Life. Later, with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we gradually understand him, and we confess, "Ah! This is all, this is a wonderful being!" He is the One who fills all things.

And only the Holy Spirit can graft us into the Word of God.

Life is supplied only when we are attached to God in Christ (John 15).

Only when life is supplied can the power and glory of that life be revealed.

And faith that works through love be revealed.

No matter how many verses we list of God's Word, it does not automatically become the bread of our lives.

These days, there are some who memorize the Bible, confess and proclaim the Word with their lips, and I desperately want to offer them a few words of mentorship.

The gateway is to move by faith into a place where the Spirit of truth can dwell,  but it is a pity.

Only when we are grafted in by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit can we receive life and become our character.

The waters of the Han River flow gently, but only to the extent that I drink from it becomes mine.

If God's Word is not transformed into life and nourishment and applied to us, it remains nothing more than printed words and language.

The Word of God is both the living Word and the written Word.

The living Word is hidden in the written Word by the Holy Spirit.

This Word is the Word of Life.

When we personally accept the living Word, Christ, through the written Word, that Word becomes our faith, bread, and permeates us, transforming our consciousness.

Otherwise, the Bible becomes nothing more than a book of doctrine and rebuke—a book of ethics and morals.

If there's one thing we can greatly understand from Romans, it's that chapters 1-8 are like a process of removing sinners, transforming them into people who possess God's righteousness and receive the promised blessings. 

It's a logic that explains the process by which God grants Christians life, power, and glory through his Word.

Romans 1-8 narrates the process by which sinners become righteous in Christ, follow the Spirit, and thus fulfill the law's requirement of love and reach the redemption of the body.

Babies in the flesh wrestle with the Bible from the perspective of good and evil, striving to live good. Meanwhile, new creations, born again and justified in Christ, struggle to live by the Spirit, mortifying the flesh by the Holy Spirit.

The Bible simply calls this the law of the Spirit of life in Christ (Romans 8:2).

It is the principle of the Spirit of life.

When snow falls on bare ground, it piles up. But when it falls on water, it melts and becomes the same water.

Similarly, when a heart uninspired by the Holy Spirit receives God's word, it becomes nothing more than a memory.

The actions of such people are driven by their own righteousness, driven by a sense of responsibility and duty, and driven to carry out their actions.

However, if the law of the Spirit of life is within us, the word of God enters us, becoming a living power, transforming our very being.

As it is said that the kingdom of God is not in word but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20), it is crucial to understand the spiritual process, the truth, where life and power are manifested through God's word.

This is the meaning of the words, "The Lord works salvation in us" (Zech. 3:17). God is always the One who works salvation for us.

He is a God who always gives, a God who gives generously and does not rebuke.

But only the Holy Spirit can make this life-giving power truly mine.

That's why the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, the truth (John 14:16, 1 John 5:7).

When Jesus says he is the way, he means that he is not only the only way to God, but also the means.

Psalm 1 describes the state of the blessed person. Rather than saying, "You must do this or that," we see a hidden principle that accompanies the blessed person, making it inevitable.

This is the principle and the foundation.

Through this principle and foundation, we are brought to the full stature of Christ.

When God regenerates us, we don't lift a finger.

From then on, we grow by listening to His words and accepting them with faith, and each time we do so, the Holy Spirit works and gives us assurance.

Through this process, we reach fullness, then enter the stage of conquering, and finally, dominion.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Chung

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