Ephesians 1:4-6 Holy and Blameless

6/5/10

Time Spent: 10 min

Main Idea: God has predestined us to be holy and blameless in the presence of Christ, but that reality can be enacted in our lives today

What I Learned about God: It is God, not myself that grants me holiness.

Summary: Paul in his explanation of the work of God in the work of salvation, reminds believers that they were predestined for adoption to be holy and blameless in His presence. In His presence, most likely is talking about the coming of Jesus Christ, which would make this promise enacted in the future. However, throughout the Scriptures, Paul gives numerous exhortations to be holy and blameless as believers here. Some of the exhortations are for personal holiness, as it is used to display the Gospel message towards unbelievers. Also, believers in this present time are to be holy and blameless because it shows their separation from their previous father and their new relationship as sons and daughters of God. This promise is assured to all believers, but there's no sense of sitting on one's hands in anticipation for this. Rather, believers are to pursue and discipline themselves in this manner at the point of their salvation.

Application: The great substitution brought upon by God is a reminder that our standing before Him is holy and blameless. However, one could not readily identify this truth in my own life based upon looking. The spiritual reality does not match up with the physical life that I live here on earth. In this short time that I have on earth, I need to pursue being a person that tries to have those two things match up, not because of my role as a pastor, but rather as my calling as a Christian. One of the areas in my life I can work on this is on discipline. I have noticed that I have lacked self-control because I've placed myself as the center of importance. This is not the way to live, as my spiritual life must be comparable to my physical for the glory of God.

$15