Gospel of Grace Alone 5

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.

Here is one of the most comforting passages in all of Scripture, but it is comforting because it sets forth a thorough God-centeredness in terms of grace. We can read passages like this, as is often done, as if it is nothing more than a statement of doctrinal truth or perhaps a sort of historical narrative. But this passage should be read with adoration on the glory of God. It is not possible for passages like this to be analyzed as one analyzes a novel as this passage shines forth from the depths of the glory of God and those depths are unfathomable. It is possible to understand the doctrines of this passage and perhaps the logic of it and yet be blind to the real beauty and glory of it. God has revealed this for the good of His people and He is the good of His people. When the people of God are in awe and wonder of this glorious God, then that is what is best for them.

The finite mind, and especially the fallen finite mind, has no idea of what it means to be blessed with every spiritual blessings in Christ. It is also true that this is something that those who are drawn to God through Christ will grow in understanding of for eternity. But Paul starts off with declaring how blessed God is. Only a Being that is eternally and infinitely blessed could possible give sinners every spiritual blessing. Perhaps we think Paul is blessing God, but it is far more likely He is declaring the glory of how blessed God is. How great and how wonderful is this great God who from His eternal blessedness grants, gives, and procures blessedness for sinful human beings in Christ. Since all of these blessings are in Christ, all of these blessings have been purchased by Christ. But God the Father sent the Son to do these things out of His great kindness and love.

While the world pants after worldly things, the believer is to pant after spiritual things. The world has to work and earn what it gets, unless it steals them, but the believer is given all things by grace. While it is the case that many people obtain worldly wealth from parents and other relatives, many waste that wealth. But all spiritual blessings in Christ are safe and secure in Christ and cannot be wasted or taken. The great wisdom of God is in giving these according to how He is working to mature His children. For all eternity these great spiritual treasures are safe in Christ and so these are available both now and for eternity.

The eternal God is perfectly blessed in all ways. He lives within His perfect triune Being in perfect joy, perfect love, and perfect fellowship. He has utterly no need in His perfect self-sufficiency. It is from this perfect blessedness and self-sufficiency that the saints (all true believers) are given all spiritual blessings in Christ. It is not that God looks upon human beings and picks out the best and the most worthy. It is not as if those who work the hardest or the best are picked out and given blessings for what they have done. It is not those who have worked hard at being holy and have practiced and practiced until they develop some high level of purity. But God, because of who He is, has taken vile and wretched sinners and has chosen them to make them holy and blameless in His sight. This is a blessing beyond human comprehension. The great and blessed God who hates sin has taken some rebels who hate Him and sin against Him on purpose and with great joy and gives them eternal blessings in Christ Jesus. If our hearts were not so hard we would gasp at such a spectacle as that.

But this great God has done this out of sheer and glorious grace. He has taken rebels and those who lived at enmity with them and He has given the all spiritual blessings in Christ by grace alone. These wicked sinners hated holiness, but He has made them holy and granted them a holy standing before Him by grace alone. These wicked sinners had no love for Him at all and lived out of self-love which demonstrated them to be children of the devil, but God has taken His enemies and has taken away their enmity and gives them a perfect standing before Him in Christ and He does that by grace alone. This blessed God is the source of all blessings and He only gives blessings by grace and grace alone. How sinners should fall on their faces while turning from their love for self with disgust and loathing and cry out to God for grace. What a glorious grace this is and all should seek it with zeal.

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