How We Have Been Saved

(Verse by verse study.)

 

By Pastor Nick Bibile

 

Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

 

Verse 7 shows how we have been saved.

 

Tell me any religion other than Christianity that speaks on the subject of salvation? Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jehovahs Witness, Mormonism they do not talk on salvation. They speak on religion. How to be good, to do moral values. Believe in their leaders teachings. Even Roman Catholicism does not teach true salvation, it is a religion of rituals and traditions. On my way I listened to the Christian talk radio and one host was interviewing Mel Gibson on the movie Passion of Christ. Mel Gibson is a Roman Catholic and the host was a Roman Catholic, the host was saying how his life is changed after seeing the movie. Changed to him is to be a better Roman Catholic. Mel Gibson said, the movies shows forgiveness and tolerance.

 

I heard a Buddhist say, he cried after seeing the movie, Jesus is a good person and he will not change his religion but be a better Buddhist. I heard many people crying having a great emotional feelings after seeing the movie but their lifestyle still remains the same. People are overwhelmed by the graphic scenes and the flesh is moved with compassion and they try to be good after seeing the movie. Mel Gibson said the movie is an art and in the talk show he never mentioned the word sin.

 

Men try to cover up sin and try to show how good they are with a humble pride. Only God knows the inward thoughts and the motives of man. All the hidden sins are exposed by God. If one makes a movie camera, that could also express the inner thoughts and the motives of men verbally. Then one day this man becomes busy filming people who say they are good without their knowledge. Then at the end show the movie publicly that was taken which also verbally expresses the inner motives and thoughts of men and women. Many will be embarrassed. But God sees everything, including our motives and thoughts.

 

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

 

Oh! The word salvation is a sweet word to the believing sinner.

 

 

The Bible speaks on salvation. The word salvation is an act of saving someone from danger. Whenever the word salvation or redemption is used in the Bible it has to do with sin. How many people love to talk of sin? Next time when you are with your friends ask them if they want to talk of sin? I am sure they will leave you and think that you are nuts. Even churches announces we are having a holy ghost revival experience the power of God and there are no movies that exposes your sin.

 

No one wants to speak of sin. Before even I touch verse 7 speaks on redemption we need to understand what sin is.

 

Let me ask you a question, who is a sinner? Many would say one who sins. Then let me ask you this question. When a newborn baby comes out from the mothers womb, from your definition that infant is not a sinner as the newborn infant has not sinned yet. This is wrong.

 

Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5)

The correct answer to who is a sinner? Not one who sins but we are all sinners as sin is in us, it is an inherited sin from Adam.

 

Romans 5:12

 

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and

so death spread to all men, because all sinned

 

If your great grand father died at the age of seven where will you be today? You wont be alive as you would have died with him, because you were in your great grand father. In the same way we were in Adam, when Adam sinned we sinned with him.

 

When you look at the character of sin basically you can divide into three.

  • Sin is a crime against God.
  • Sin is a debt to God.
  • Sin is enmity towards God.

 

Sin is a crime against God.

If you sin against a poor man on the street or in a remote village, no one would be bothered to punish you. As the poor man is less honorable in the society , he has no authority and power. But if you sinned against the most richest man in the world that would make a big difference as he has great authority, much honor and power. It is the same with God. He is the judge of the Universe and his power , honor and authority is infinite. He is infinitely worthy to be obeyed and to oblige all his commandments, but when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they disobeyed an infinitely righteous God of the Universe. Their sin attacked Gods infinite righteousness as they challenged Gods infinite authority and they deserved an infinite punishment.

 

Yes, we are all born sinners and also God gave us the 10 commandments his moral law to obey. We are not talking of the ceremonial law but of the moral law of God.

 

1Jo 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

What is the meaning of moral? Means to distinguish between right and wrong in our daily practical life. Who can be absolutely sure what is right or wrong? All peoples have different opinions when it comes to right and wrong.  For example for some it is okay to be involved in sexual immorality, we hear today a lot on gay marriage and abortion. Some who are involved in this say it is ok to be gay and to abort a baby but to others it is immoral.  The answer is that God is the king, governor and the ruler of the Universe and his moral law never ceased. What is the moral law to us today?  The moral law is the obedience to Him. How many times you have sinned against God?

To act against his moral law is a crime against God. We have sinned against an infinite authority and we deserve an infinite punishment.

 

A crime has been committed against Gods justice, and his justice needs to be satisfied.

 

Sin is a debt to God.

 

When you sin against someone maybe your parents, relatives even your friends what happens? They get hurt and they are the injured party. When Adam committed the sin against God, there was an injury done to God by Adam. The injured party was God.

 

When God gave man the Law, he was obligated to obey the Law. When man sinned, he violated his obligation to God. The injured party was God. Man was morally indebted to God. Our debt to God is infinite as he is infinite. We owe God a debt that we cannot pay. As he is the injured party he needs to be satisfied.

 

You have injured God by breaking all of the moral laws of God being disobedient to God and God needs to be satisfied. How can you pay back to God. All have a guilt of sin no matter what religion they are and people try to cover guilt by good works, helping the poor, doing something good to the society or giving to the charity etc.,

 

King David said in Psalm 25:11, O Lord, pardon my iniquity; for is great. He did not say, Pardon my sins but I have done much good work to counter balance my sins. He did not say, Pardon my sins they are small. On the contrary, sin is great against God. The need for pardon was because of sin against God.

 

Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

 

In Roman Catholic theology the intense physical suffering of Christ's Crucifixion is the focus. This is one of the reasons why in Roman Catholic imagery related to Christ's physical pain and that crucifixes show him still suffering on the cross, mass is the continual repetition of these sufferings.

Martin Luther said, "The Mass is the greatest blasphemy
 of God, and the highest idolatry upon
 the earth, an abomination the like of
 which has never been in Christendom."

"it is finished" (John 19:30)

 

Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.

 

Wow! What a scripture! What is the word redeem or redemption means? Our English word redeem comes from the French redimer and Latin redimo. The word red or re means back and emo means to purchase. It means to buy back, to release from captivity of sin by paying a ransom. The Greek word is agorazw, which has the same meaning.

 

We have not come up to the standard of the law as we have violated the law of God in our hearts, mind and outward behavior. We have transgressed the law and under the curse of the law. The elect are redeemed out of the hands of the Fathers justice, his wrath. (We are saved from the wrath of God. Rom 5:9)

 

Ga 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.

Ga 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

 

Greek word lutrow

In other places in the Bible, the word lutrow is used, which means a deliverance of a slave, or a captive, by paying a ransom price for the deliverance.

 

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

 

The elect the saints, the church of God is redeemed not with silver or gold or money which paid for a ransom but with far greater, that is with the blood of Christ which came into this world to give as a ransom price for many.

 

Mt 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

 

Now to whom did Jesus pay the ransom to redeem us? Some say he paid the ransom to Satan, if Jesus paid the ransom to Satan who would be victorious? Satan. On the other hand, Satan was defeated at the cross, victory belonged to Jesus. We were slaves to sin because we violated the law of God; the hurting party was the Father. We were under the wrath of God. Sin is a debt to God. That is why we see in the scripture that we were poor and in Christ, we are rich, to show that we owed a debt to the Father and we were poor, unable to pay the debt as the debt was an infinite debt against the infinite God. We cannot answer to the justice of God. But Christ in our behalf paid that debt in full. He blotted out the handwriting that was against us.

We have victory over the enemy by blood of Jesus Christ.

 

Ac 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

 

Sin is enmity towards God

 

Enmity has to do with our relationship to God. When we sin against people by gossiping and lying there is a breaking of relationships. In the same way when man sinned against God, his relationship with God was broken. The sinful mind is hostile to God ( Rom. 8:7)

 

All sin is displeasing to God; he cannot take any pleasure in it, nor look upon it with delight; it is so contrary to his nature. Therefore, God is angry at the wicked everyday. (Psalm 7:11) Why? Because they are daily sinning against him. The man who is not born again or the man who is in unregenerate state cannot please God as he is not a new person in Christ, he is living in sin daily and God is angry. The heat of his anger is called the wrath of God. This is the fury and the fierceness of his anger. We see his wrath in the flood of Noahs days, Sodom and Gomorrah, and other places in the Bible. We are living in days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Homosexuality is called gay. Abortion is called womans right of choice. Wickedness is called pleasure, God is called all loving, sin is just a problem that we need to overcome.

 

How can a person have a good relationship with God? Only through Jesus Christ.

 

Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Rom. 5:11)

The work of the mediator is to make reconciliation between two hostile parties. He makes reconciliation between God and man by his all-perfect atoning sacrifice. Such a mediator must be God and human, divine, that his obedience and his sufferings have infinite value. That means his blood on the cross should be able to save the most wicked sinner.

Christ represented man and by obedience to the law, he satisfied Gods justice, in his glorified humanity, he is the head of the gloried church.

 

The greatest thing that Christ did was to forgive the believing sinner.

 

Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins

 

Ps 130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

 

Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

 

Ps 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

 

We were slaves to sin, captives to sin. Your flesh was in control. When the flesh tells you lets go party tonight enjoy the pleasures there of you go. When the flesh tells you this and that we obeyed the flesh that is our feelings our emotions. We were slaves to sin. The Lord Jesus Christ freed us from that slavery of sin. Now we dont walk by feelings or by sight but by faith in Christ Jesus.

 

We were under the wrath of God and Christ delivered us from the powers of Satan.

 

This is the blood of Christ, his own blood, and not the blood of bulls and goats, and the same with that of the persons he redeems, but untainted with sin; the blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot and blemish. If you are a believing sinner you are forgiven.

 

Forgiveness of sins; of all sins, original and actual, past, present, and to come; and this is through the blood of Christ.

 

Ps 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

 

Again we see the word grace, oh how sweet is the word of grace to the believing sinners soul.

 

according to the riches of his grace.

 

Not because anything good we have done but of his grace alone so we cannot boast in our salvation.

 

8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

 

This grace in the Gospel; which may be called all wisdom and prudence, because it is the wisdom of God; it is the product of his wisdom, and a display of it; the doctrines it contains are full of wisdom which surpasses all human wisdom.

 

Sin is condemned, and yet the sinner saved. Think of Gods creation. He created all things, everything out of nothing. We need something to create anything but out of nothing God created the heavens and the earth and all things visible and invisible. He just spoke the word and they were created.

 

But in redemption we see the wisdom of God. How can an unholy man, an adulterer, thief, drug addict sexually immoral, wicked sinful man with the holy God forever and ever?

 

In creation God spoke the word and in redemption the holy Son of Gods blood was spilled.

 

Re 7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

 

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