Trinitarian Salvation (Part 1)
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Introduction
Introduction
Who are you? Is just another way of asking “where do you find your identity”?
When faced with that question, most people will begin to think about what things in their lives can define who they are. Many will think about their profession or vocation, others will think about their possessions, others maybe think about their heritage.
Some draw their identity from their religious system of works-salvation.
And others they just become dreamers… since maybe they have nothing to validate them, they spent their lives thinking about “what if I could be so and so”. That is why we admire famous people so much.
We are always looking for validation and acceptance. We are always looking to be someone. That is why we have so many love songs, and that is why we have so many self-help books, and that is why so many people are willing to pay psychologists to help them figure out who they are, and where are they going. That is why so many people are just addicted to social media, they spend their lives always looking for some sort of approval and praise for other in order to feel like they are someone.
Man’s predicament is that he is always seeking to runaway from his past, but unable to do so, and at the same time change his future but unable to control the outcome.
The problem is that all our attempts to validate ourselves, to make us someone, will always come crashing down.
Our identity is found in Christ
The only real and lasting identity is the one we find in Christ. The only way we can be someone, the only way we can have an identity that never fades away is by being someone and by having my identity in the Lord Jesus.
So may Christians spend their lives in spiritual poverty, without a true identity, without enjoying all the benefits and riches that are found in Jesus.
This book is written to remind us of the great spiritual treasures that we have in Him. When Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, they were probably going through an identity crisis. The early church was mainly compose by Jews, then when the gentiles began to believe and become part of the church many were treated as second class Christians. Paul then writes with the purpose to let them know that they are complete in Christ and that all of the treasures that they needed are already theirs in Him.
As we work our way through this passage, you are going to climb step by step all the way to heaven, as we move through and consider every single on of the things that God has done for us, we will feel as if we are before the amazing throne of God.
Trinitarian Salvation
The title of this sermon makes reference to that amazing treasure that we have in Christ, the salvation of our souls. This salvation is compose of many elements and executed by all three members of the Trinity.
Father - electing us
Son - redeeming us
Holy Spirit - sealing us
That said, there is no reason for a Christian to be spiritually deprived, malnourished or impoverished. We have in this book everything we need to have all the spiritual strength and health we need to live fruitful Christian lives.
Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary Praise to the Father
Paul is saying that the blessings listed come from God the Father, become ours in Jesus Christ, and are applied by the Holy Spirit.
A heart of praise
A heart of praise
(NASB95)
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
3Bendito sea el Dios y Padre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo,
Paul can’t help himself but to begin this section with a declaration of praise.
In light of what is about to unravel, the proper response is a heart of praise and worship.
The motivation for praise
The motivation for praise
who has blessed us
que nos ha bendecido
que nos ha bendecido
We bless Him because He has blessed us
Spiritual blessings from the Father
Spiritual blessings from the Father
Complete in Christ
Complete in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
con toda bendición espiritual en los lugares celestiales en Cristo,
We have received every spiritual blessing.
The moment a person becomes a new creation in Jesus, that person has already received all they need. All of God’s blessings are poured out over that person at the moment of salvation.
There is nothing to be added.
This is important to understand because many believe some people can be saved but not be completely blessed. That you can be a half Christian.
Chosen from the beginning
Chosen from the beginning
4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
4según nos escogió en El antes de la fundación del mundo,
Here we are now confronted with one of the most difficult doctrines in the Bible. It is so difficult to deal with that many simply just ignore it all together.
The reason is so difficult is that it makes God the one totally responsible for man’s salvation or condemnation; and it makes much of God and nothing of us.
We like to feel in control, so for many in the church is an insult to even consider that we are in Christ not because of our doing but because of God’s electing purposes.
Spurgeon: Whatever may be said about the doctrine of election, it is written in the Word of God as with an iron pen, and there is no getting rid of it; there it stands.
Three responses to this doctrine:
Denial
Election based on God’s foreknowledge
Simple and pure election
But what about man’s responsibility and free will?
Blessings of this doctrine:
Eliminates boasting (jactancia)
Gives assurance
Leads to holiness
Promotes evangelism
Holy and Blameless
Holy and Blameless
that we would be holy and blameless before Him.
para que fuéramos santos y sin mancha delante de El.
God’s election doesn’t leave the person in their sinful state.
Here we are not speaking about our actions, but about God’s actions. In other words, we are not speaking about practical holiness but about positional holiness.
Loved eternally
Loved eternally
In love
In love
En amor
What is the motive for all this amazing work of salvation?
Pure love. Agape love. Perfect love. Not based on emotions but on a disposition of the heart to seek the benefit of the other person.
This is the key to understand God’s electing purposes, it is all because of love.
When the Bible speaks about God foreknowing us is speaking about loving us
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
Porque a los que de antemano conoció, también los predestinó a ser hechos conforme a la imagen de su Hijo, para que El sea el primogénito entre muchos hermanos;
Adopted into His family
Adopted into His family
5He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself,
5nos predestinó para adopción como hijos para sí mediante Jesucristo,
Predestined - to set in the path to accomplish a specific goal, guide the process to achieve it.
Adoption - this is the goal of the predestination. We are received by as His children.
6to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
To Himself - This goes side by side with the fact that the motivation for predestining us to be His children is His Love.
Through Jesus Christ - This is so important. There is no sonship, there is no adoption outside of Jesus. Not everyone is a son of God.
We are blessed, complete in Christ, chosen from the beginning, we are set apart and made holy and blameless, we loved perfectly, we are brought into the family of God. These are all amazing things that He has done, this is just such an incredible blessing. Now before we go off and think that this is all be cause we somehow deserve it, or because we are so amazing that God couldn’t resist, let us understand the following:
Because of God not because of us
Because of God not because of us
according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace,
conforme al beneplácito de su voluntad, 6para alabanza de la gloria de su gracia
It is all of God’s will.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
que no nacieron de sangre, ni de la voluntad de la carne, ni de la voluntad del hombre, sino de Dios.
12 Pero a todos los que le recibieron, les dio el derecho de llegar a ser hijos de Dios, es decir, a los que creen en su nombre, 13 que no nacieron de sangre, ni de la voluntad de la carne, ni de la voluntad del hombre, sino de Dios.
It is all to His glory
God has the right to display His grace, and in saving us the way He did, He ensures that all the glory belongs to Him.
conforme al beneplácito de su voluntad,
6para alabanza de la gloria de su gracia que gratuitamente ha impartido sobre nosotros en el Amado.
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