The post God’s Blessings Are Not For Sale appeared first on TGN.

The post Does God Want us to be Poor? appeared first on TGN.

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, (Ephesians 1:3)

The text above is the first of twelve verses – one long, elegant sentence in the Greek – within which Paul the apostle praises God for blessing the Ephesian church with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. In the verses that follow, from the 15th verse onward, Paul prays for the Ephesians that their spiritual eyes will be opened to fully come to terms with the import of these blessings.

Before I proceed further, let me answer a question on my mind which I believe will be of immense benefit to the discourse. When we know what praise is, in our relationship with God, then we can best appreciate Paul’s words in the text. An online Christian ministry, gotquestions, says this of praise:

[It] is the joyful recounting of all God has done for us … It is … the truthful [sincere and heartfelt] acknowledgment of the righteous acts of another. Since God has done many wonderful deeds, He is worthy of praise (Psalm 18:3).

With this brief description of what praise is, we can now look at Paul’s praises and glean at least four lessons with regards to Christian praise, prayer and doctrine.

The Place of Praise in the Christian’s Life

How important is praise in your Christian life? What position does it occupy on your prayer list? Is it something that comes at the tail end, when you have finished pouring out your petitions to God?
It is very instructive that before Paul made any petitions for the Ephesians, he started with praise. To Paul, prayer must begin with praise. A careful study of his epistles will reveal that this is his method everywhere. True Christian prayer must begin with praise. Similarly, the Psalmist said to enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4). Indeed, it has been said that praise is the highest form of prayer.

The Nature of Christian Praise

A striking observation from Paul’s doxology here is his deliberate mention of the Trinity. He praises God the Father, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. “Spiritual blessings” means, not only are the blessings in view of a non-material nature, they are derived or applied to us through the Holy Spirit.

We see from Paul’s doxology, that true Christian praise, like the entire Christian position, is essentially Trinitarian. We direct our praises to God, through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. This brings me to my next point,

The Object of Christian Praise

First, notice that God is the object of our praise and worship. We are not the object.

Now, one may wonder that is it possible for anyone to make us the object of Christian praise? My answer is, sadly, very much so, as is apparent from my experience below.

In an assembly where my family and I used to worship – I used to be in the choir – each time before praises, the pastor will tell the congregation, “focus on your problems.” “Focus on what you want God to do for you during this time of praises.” Then we are told, “the harder you praise, the more you will be blessed.” Sounds familiar?

It is not enough that we tend to barge into God’s presence as it were, roll down a long list of requests – some of us even give Him ultimatum when He must answer us or else…, and perhaps when we are about to finish we thank Him, sometimes we even forget to thank Him — but even His praise we have hijacked! “Focus on our problems during times of singing praises to God”?

When my wife and I stood back to reflect on our worship services in that church, we realised that it was all about us, not about God. The sermons were always about us – how if we did A and B, God will bless us materially. We could not see the Gospel at the centre of the weekly sermons. Even the themes of the services were all materialistic. If it wasn’t about breaking financial curses, it was about anointing for promotion or about one material thing or the other.

Now in a sense, I believe the church today prays and praises the way we do because we don’t stop to consider who is the object of our praise.

Paul’s approach is so unlike ours these days. Observe his method: he doesn’t start with us, he starts with God and His blessedness!

Later on, Paul will praise God for the fact that He has blessed us. But that is not what he puts in the first place. His first focus is on the blessedness of the One who alone is the object of our praise. True Christian praise is God-centred, not man-centred.

When we gather in praise and corporate worship to God, we ought to approach with reverence, bearing in mind his attributes. We come before him with reverence and awe, not to entertain ourselves.

A.W. Tozer put it so aptly when he said, “Gathering together for worship has nothing to do with pleasing ourselves, but it has everything to do with pleasing God.”

The Motivation for Christian Praise

Paul goes on to praise God because He has blessed us – not with some, but all spiritual blessings! The Puritan theologian, Paul Bayne (1537-1617), paraphrased our opening verse thus:

“Praised be the God of our Saviour, praised be the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us; that is, by his blessing made us partakers of all spiritual blessings, such as take their beginning from heaven, are kept in heaven, shall all have their accomplishments in heaven; and all this in Christ, who is the root and the second Adam, whence every benefit supernatural springeth, and is derived unto us.”

Strangely, there are some who interpret every mention of “blessings” in the Bible in terms of material things only. But does Paul have material blessings in view here? The qualification “spiritual” will immediately debunk that. Further, the context shows that Paul has in mind the great plan of salvation — beginning in eternity past with the election of the saints in Christ, till eternity to come when God will once more head up all things under Christ. We see from the context that Paul had in mind the eternal counsel that took place between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; where each person of the blessed Trinity covenanted to do certain things in the grand plan of salvation. The Father thought up the plan of Salvation (Eph. 1:3-6). The Son took it upon Himself to carry out this plan, to take on human flesh and be born as a babe, suffer and die a shameful death on a tree (Eph. 1:7-12). The Father on His part promised to grant forgiveness to all those who would believe inthe Son and the work He did on the cross; and adopt them into His family (Eph. 1: 3-6). The Spirit on His part partook to apply the work of salvation to the believer (Eph. 1:13-14).

In a sense, our praise and worship today is superficial because we have stopped contemplating the great work of God in the salvation of man. The contemporary Christian only praises when he has material blessings in view. This is a far cry from apostolic praise.

To the Christian, houses, cars, money and property are not the choicest of blessings. These are temporary. The Christian’s joy and praise is not predicated on material blessings only. His blessings are first of all spiritual – they are other-worldly!

The Christian rejoices that his name is written in heaven. We rejoice because we are forgiven, absolved from sin, accepted in the Beloved, and heirs of heaven!

The post Praise: Four Lessons From Paul appeared first on TGN.

While some avoid it altogether, others have a problem “accepting” it, appealing to reasons such as it being unfair, or inconsistent with the nature of God. Regardless of our feelings, there is no denying that this doctrine is nonetheless taught in Scripture. It behoves us therefore as faithful bible students to confront it, and contemplate it. After all, Paul wrote this epistle, not to bible scholars or theologians, but to the Church at Ephesus — most of whom would have had no background in theological training.  The recipients were gentiles, formerly alien to the sacred writings of the Jews. In addition, the contents of practical instructions given towards the latter part of the epistle shows that some of them were probably slaves, with no formal education. Yet Paul undoubtedly expected that they would read and contemplate these doctrines, and revel in them! So should we, if we indeed believe that all Scripture is God-breathed.

It all starts and ends with God

Paul in the third verse of Ephesians  chapter one mentions special blessings that are the Christian’s in Christ. “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”, he exclaims. But how do these spiritual blessings, which are in the heavenly places, become ours here on earth? This is the question Paul addresses in his next statement in the fourth verse.

It is instructive that Paul does not start with our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He does not even start with the work that the Lord Jesus Christ himself has done, or with the work of the Holy Spirit in applying these blessing to the believer. He starts with God the Father! This is a repudiation of the man-centred kind of Gospel which is becoming very popular in our day. To Paul, Christianity starts and ends with God! It was the Father who thought up the plan of salvation; He it is who sent Jesus to die for us whilst we were yet sinners and enemies against Him in our minds. Paul tells us elsewhere that even the faith to believe unto salvation is a gift from Him, so that boasting on the part of man is totally excluded as far as salvation is concerned. And He does all this according to the great counsel of His will, for His good pleasure! The truth is, what Paul does here is in perfect agreement with the entire biblical teaching, which we can sum up as a revelation of all what God has done in Christ with regards to the salvation of man.

Election, Paul’s first argument

Paul’s explanation to how these spiritual blessings have become ours is, we are what we are because He (God) has chosen us!

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love (Ephesians 1:4).

This is what Paul puts in the first place. The recurring phrase in this chapter is “to the praise of His glory” in various forms — “according to the purpose of His will”,“according to the riches of his grace” etc. Surely, this is to emphasise the point that the decisive action in salvation, and therefore all the glory belong to God. The doctrine of election reveals to us the Sovereignty and love of God like no other.

Ultimately in time, the believer will in response to the Gospel choose to place his faith in Christ Jesus. However, in the words of our Lord Himself, we did not choose Him, but He chose us and appointed us that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide (John 15:16). God’s action in election comes first, faith unto salvation follows. Herein is a reason why every Christian should isolate and contemplate this doctrine – the fact that both Paul and our Lord put it in the first position in explaining the Christian position. As if to remind us that our salvation is not an after-thought, Paul starts with the divine perspective. The awe-inspiring truth of all this is that He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world; in spite of us. This is the humbling truth of the election of the saints.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,  so that no human being[b] might boast in the presence of God. (1Cor1:28-29).

Election, The Joy and Security of the Saints

Further, this doctrine is the basis of the surety and certainty of our salvation. If God’s salvation plan was conceived and executed by Him in spite of us, then we can be assured that He will carry it out to completion. If I am saved by His Grace and not by anything in me, then I can be assured that He who has began a good work will bring it to a perfect completion. Oh what joy to know that nothing can separate those whom God has elected, called and justified from the love of God!

Those He saves are His delight
Christ will hold me fast
Precious in His holy sight
He will hold me fast
He’ll not let my soul be lost
His promises shall last
Bought by Him at such a cost
He will hold me fast

He will hold me fast

He will hold me fast

For my Savior loves me so

He will hold me fast”

~ Ada Habershonnew, 2013

The post Elected Unto Eternal Life appeared first on TGN.

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, (Ephesians 1:3).

I once heard a preacher remark on the opening verse to his congregants, “Your mansion you’ve been waiting for is in the heavenly places. You simply have to pull it down by faith!” “That car you’ve been praying for has already been provided in the spiritual realm. All it takes is the faith to bring it into reality.” Extreme as it may sound, this example describes the way in which many interpret the phrase spiritual blessings in heavenly places. This approach is best described as eisegesis (reading one’s presupposed meaning into the text), as opposed to exegesis (looking for the meaning that the author intended). Somehow, every mention of “blessing” in the Bible is interpreted by some in materialistic terms only. Does this verse really speak to material blessings? In fact, not only does the immediate context disagree with such interpretation, it shows that those who read material connotations into this verse have a warped view of the Christian position.

The Christian’s Blessed Position

Having concluded his preliminary salutation to the Ephesians, in which he tells them how they are set apart (Saints) by their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by Grace have received peace with God through the work that Christ has done on the cross, he now tells them what is entitled to them (all spiritual blessings) as result of this special relationship that they have with God. The nature of the blessing is such that Paul cannot contain himself; and in typical fashion, he bursts into doxology, praising “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This verse is part of a long, complex statement ending in the 14th verse. The beginning of the next verse “even as…” indicates that it is a continuation of the previous. In this passage, Paul describes the grand scheme of God’s salvation as carried out in Christ — beginning from eternity past with the choosing or election of the Saints, to eternity to come, when God will once more head up or re-unite all things under the rulership of Christ. As the details unfold, we get to realise that Christ’s redemptive work was aimed at undoing the effects of the fall of man, following the deception of Satan. Whereas the fall produced in man a dread of God’s presence, and a sense of guilt for his disobedience and rebellion, God’s elective Grace towards the Christian justifies him (declares him guiltless) through the cleansing blood of Christ. Restored to the right relationship with God, he can once more walk before God in love ( with neither fear nor guilt) — for perfect love casts out all fear.

Further, God adopts the believer into His family, according the full rights of a son – including the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is a seal of God’s ownership and a foretaste of the inheritance that awaits the believer in heaven. Paul’s explanation for all of these is, “according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7b-8).

In our opening verse, Paul teaches us some very important lessons about the Christian.

The Blessings of the New Testament Believer

God is often described as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Why does Paul seem to deviate from the norm in referring to God here as the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ? Our Lord Himself used a similar phrase when He encountered Mary Magdalene outside the tomb after His resurrection.

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ’I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17) – as if to say, from now on, God the Father is your Father in every respect as he is my Father. Because of the work Christ has done for His Church, the believer is now in a special relationship with the Father. We are adopted into God’s family, in which Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29).

For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers…” (Hebrews 2: 11-12a)

This is another way in which Paul drives home the point that the believer derives his identity entirely in the Lord Jesus. All these spiritual blessings come to the believer in and through Christ. They are spiritual in that they are applied to the believer through the agency of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian’s Faith is Other-Worldly

The Christian faith is plainly, other-worldly. In other words, a Christian is one who contemplates the world to come. The old hymnist wrote,

This world is not my home
I am just passing through
My treasures are laid up
Somewhere beyond the blues¹

This worldview is what characterised the heroes of faith as noted by the author of the letter to the Hebrews: “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:13-16). This mind-set was what empowered the early Church to be effective in their witness in the midst of sufferings and persecutions. In a sense, the Church today has become ineffective in its witness because we have lost this other-worldly consciousness. C. S. Lewis remarks,

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.

Whether rich or poor, in health or in sickness, the New Testament believer’s joy is untainted because he’s got his eyes on the city whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:9-10). Isn’t it a travesty that today a Christian’s blessings are measured by the material things they possess?

Notes
1. Albert E. Brumley, 1980, This World is Not My Home.

The post Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly Places appeared first on TGN.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles , so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Galatians 3:13-14).

The post The Blessing Of Abraham appeared first on TGN.