Ephesians 3:6

July 4, 2012 I want to go back through Ephesians and look more closely at a couple verses. This time were going to look at 3:6. Paul is given the ministry of preaching to the Gentiles, That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. What does it mean to be partakers of his promise in Christ and what are its effects? Were going to look back through the Scriptures at when the promise was made, but before we do, I want to make you aware of a couple things: First, we have to understand that theres a difference between the conditional promise and unconditional promise. Conditional Made to Abraham and his physical descendants regarding a physical land. Israel and Canaan are types and shadows. Its theoretically everlasting as long as the people uphold their end of the contract. Do or die. Left to the power and will of men. This is why all but two fell in the desert and why Israel and Judah were overcome by Assyria and Babylon. Unconditional Made to Abraham and his spiritual descendants regarding the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. These are the fulfillments of the types. Its actually everlasting because Christ upholds His end of the contract. Watch and see. According to the will and power of God. The two who survived the desert had faith because they were heirs of the unconditional promise.

Its very important to understand this because this is where a lot of confusion begins. Some people mix the two promises and end up with Ill make a way and if you believe in my way then I will save you. You know, youve got this picture of Jesus desperately knocking at the hearts door and the Holy Spirit floating around trying to find someone, anyone, who will believe Him and answer His call. If you do this, then Ill do this. If you love Me, then Ill love you. If you choose Me, then Ill choose you. This is the foundation to what we call Pelagianism and Arminianism. Its what most of the world believes, but they are in error. If we look back at the unconditional promise and see how its interpreted in the New Testament well see

that its something very different. Its not if you believe, then Ill save, but rather, I will save My people. Second, let me be clear about something: Im not saying that we dont believe. Its clear from Scripture that Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness (Rom. 4:3) and without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is (Heb. 11:6). What Im saying is that people mesh the conditional and unconditional promises together and conclude that belief and acceptance catalyze the effects of the promise. God wants to do something; Hes just waiting for you to respond. No. What do the Scriptures say? My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (Jn. 10:27). Do you see that difference? We do believe, and we are saved after believing, but the promise isnt rooted in our beliefour belief is rooted in the promise. Third, we must understand that the promise and all its effects are fulfilled in Christ and tied to our eternal union with Him. Essentially the unconditional promise is made between the Father and the Son. Were only a part of it because of our union with Jesus Christa union which was before the foundation of the world. In short, God made a promise to Jesus Christ: If you fulfill the Law and die for the sins of your people I will raise you from the dead and everyone in you will be raised also. We hear this promise through the gospel, we believe, and we are saved. Think about how baptism symbolizes this factwe are one with Jesus Christ. So lets go back and find the promise in the Old Testament. First go to Genesis 3:13 to see that the promise is made to the seed. Adam and Eve have just eaten the fruit and theyre being confronted by God: And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen. 3:13-15) Now we know this is the first prophecy about Christ, but have you ever considered what He means by seed? Was He talking to a regular snake? Is he saying that

everyone born after Eve will hate snakes? Lets look at a couple other verses. The first is in John 8:44 where some Pharisees debate with Jesus about their ancestry. They say that Abraham is their father, and technically thats true, but Jesus is talking about spiritual birth, so he tells them that if they were Abrahams children theyd do the works of Abraham (Rom. 4:11-12). Instead He says, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (Jn. 8:44). Think about that in relation to Genesis 3. Is there a connection? Now look at I John 3:8-10: He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. The word for seed in verse nine is sperma (). Thats used to describe the seed of plants (which, it should be noted, bear after their own kind, Gen. 1:11-12), and to describe whats in semen. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him. That first promise is the gospel: Satan and his seed at enmity with the seed of Eve. The Christian Gentiles are partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. Now, lets fast forward a little bit to the time of Abraham to see that the seed is a spiritual seed in Christ: Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Gen. 12:1-3) What does it mean that all families of the earth shall be blessed in Abraham? Lets look at another verse:

And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Gen. 22:15-18) Now lets compare them both to Pauls comments in Galatians 3:6: Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. It should be obvious that God was never the Jewish God. Hes always been the Savior of the world. Skip down to verse 16: Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. The promise was made to Abraham and his seed before the law was ever given. If God changed anything with the law, then the promise was of no useit would have been broken. But the law couldnt change Gods promiseAbraham and all those who followed his steps of faith looked to the one Seed would possess the gates of His enemies. This covenant is confirmed in Christ! In other words its not left to Abraham or you or me to fulfill the obligations of the covenant. This is why what we have is called grace. This is why we believe that even the worst of sinners who call out to God can be saved. This is why we believe our salvation is secure for eternity. Our salvation is by Gods grace only and not by anything weve done or can do; it is confirmed of God in Christ.

Look down to verse 26: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart: His wounds have paid my ransom. Now lets close this point with Isaiah 59:
1Behold,

the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Then for the next fifteen verses He makes accusations against them. They are completely guilty in every way:
16And

he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. Who is this talking about? Is it not the Father and the Son?
17For

he

That is Christ, put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. 18According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. 19So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 20And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the

LORD. 21As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, That is upon Christ, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever. We are the seed of ChristHis spiritual childrenand the promise is to us! The Redeemer is ours! We are partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. http://newgracebaptist.blogspot.com/