Redeemed In Christ

Unlock the secrets of your spiritual inheritance as we begin the Book of Ephesians. Have you ever wondered what it truly means to be a saint in modern times? Our exploration begins with Paul's profound greeting to the saints in Ephesus, inviting us to reflect on the idea that all believers are saints and on the transformative power of recognizing Jesus as both Savior and Lord. Together, we'll unpack the concept of predestination and the spiritual blessings awaiting through Christ, shedding light on a divine legacy that transcends time.

Join me as we celebrate the profound grace and redemption offered through Jesus Christ. We'll illuminate the mystery of God's will, as revealed through the gospel, and discuss eschatological themes like the rapture and the second coming of Christ. Listen closely as we examine these events within God's divine plan, affirming the unbreakable promise of salvation through faith and the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Our conversation underscores how these truths reinforce the assurance of our inheritance as believers, promising hope and purpose intertwined with God's ultimate design.

Finally, let's talk about the rhythm of daily worship and the joy of weekly gatherings. In today's world, where distractions abound, immersing oneself in God's word daily is vital for spiritual growth. I highlight the power of community in strengthening faith and the importance of expressing love and devotion to God through prayer, song, and acts of kindness. These practices not only fortify our spirits but also keep us attuned to the divine, fostering a life enriched by gratitude and reverence for the Almighty.

Be a part of my team!  With your prayer, passing along the message, and financial support you can help get these messages in the hands of all those who need them! And remember, you can text me questions and comments by clicking on "Send Us a Text Message".  Until next time!  God bless!

Chapters

• 0:29 Living God's Way in Ephesians
• 13:26 God's Plan for Redemption in Jesus
• 22:16 God's Grace and Promises for Believers
• 32:11 Daily Worship and Weekly Gathering

Transcript

B.R.Maul: 0:29

Hello and good day. I am BR Maul and you are listening to the podcast Living God's Way in an Ungodly World. Here we read God's Word and we talk about God's Word. Here we read God's Word and we talk about God's Word how it applies to our life today. Because God's Word is timeless, we don't have to worry about whether the information that God has provided us pertains to us today, in modern times, because God's words pertain to every time and since God himself surpasses time, it's safe to say that his word surpasses time.

B.R.Maul: 1:11

We have much to read. I have 14 verses that I'm going to read and break down, and so I'm going to jump right into it. Again, thanks for joining me. This is the book of Ephesians. We're starting a new book, chapter 1, verse 1.

B.R.Maul: 1:34

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the Beloved. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches through his blood. The forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound towards us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. In him also, we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ. 1 Peter 3, verses 1-10. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory.

B.R.Maul: 3:32

Here ends the reading. There's a lot to unpack, isn't there? So let's go ahead and back it up. Paul starts out his epistle Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. So he identifies who he is right away and also why he is who he is by the will of God. So an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus. So the saints, the saints, are all believers in Jesus Christ. In our times today, there's been hundreds of years where the Catholic Church would like to lay claim to who they appoint to be a saint. But that's not the case. That's nowhere in God's Word. So that is a man-made tradition, because it is very clear in the New Testament that saints are all those who believe in Jesus Christ.

B.R.Maul: 4:31

Verse 2, he says Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So peace from God, our Father. And isn't that nice, our Father, to be able to call God Father is magnificent. And the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to point out the emphasis of Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't just say and Jesus Christ. That word is very important because if Jesus is known to you as only Jesus and not your Lord, well, then do ask yourself if he is your Lord. Because if he's your Lord, well then you have salvation, because that is you admitting that he owns your life. Why? Because he's the one who paid for it. So he's not just our Savior, he is our Lord.

B.R.Maul: 5:29

Verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Now that's a lot and I could spend a whole hour just unpacking that. Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ? You're going to hear in Christ from Paul quite a bit. It is a reminder of who we are, that we are in Christ, where our blessings come from in Christ, where our blessings come from in Christ and why we have eternity in Christ. So that's a lot of blessings in there. Because he says, not some. Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ? Verse 4, just as he chose us in him, so that's he the Father. Just as God the Father chose us in him, that's Jesus before the foundation of the world. That we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Verse 5, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, that's himself, god, the Father according to the good pleasure of his will. Now, there's a lot there. I really do wish I could spend more time and perhaps I will in another teaching about predestination.

B.R.Maul: 6:57

It is very misunderstood. I misunderstood it for the longest time. It was very hard for me to grasp it, even once it was explained to me and I finally the light bulb went on in my head. But it's important that we understand that because it's easily misunderstood. But just going through it, verse 4, just as he chose us in him, so as God, the Father, chose us in him. What we're hearing here isn't that you were chosen because you were special, or that I was chosen because I was special.

B.R.Maul: 7:44

Nowhere in predestination does it point to the fact that God went ahead and picked some people that he would choose throughout time and other people that he didn't choose. What we're being told here is the decision that God is choosing us through his son, jesus. So all who would believe on Jesus, by Jesus in Jesus, is how we get to our heavenly father. That is how we get to spend eternity in heaven. That is how we become his children, god's children. He made that decision before time itself, before the foundation of the world was even laid. Now, this brings me great, great comfort, because this is yet another verse that points to the very fact that our God is sovereign, which means nothing gets past him. All of this is planned out and beloved. I get it.

B.R.Maul: 8:44

I completely understand that it's so easy to look around us in this world today and get the feeling that it is utter chaos, that there are many random things going on around us Because, after all, we're only viewing things in the linear formation of time, so from point A to point B, that's all we can see. We cannot see things as God sees it outside of time, so a lot of the choices does seem to be just sporadic. The choices that we make very well are sporadic because we don't have the knowledge that God has, but he takes all of that in consideration and everything goes according to his plan. I know this is confusing, because this also doesn't mean that we're just mere puppets, that every decision that you make has already been made by God. That's not at all what's going on here, and hopefully you can see why.

B.R.Maul: 9:44

This is the reason I would love to be able to spend more time on predestination, because it is very complex in trying to wrap our minds around it, but our decisions haven't been already made for us? Now that's impossible. Why? Because God made free will. Now it doesn't say free will in the Bible. It's not worded that way. Some argue that that's redundant to say free will because to have our own will, it would be free to make our own decisions. But either way, I use free will because it seems more people understand that as that it's something that we have control over, although that is what will is our will.

B.R.Maul: 10:29

That is one of the parts that is made in the image of our God that he gave us that ability to accept him or reject him. This is so important because God understands that true love must be a decision and love needs more than one. Now, god doesn't need us because God is a triune God Father, son, holy Spirit so he isn't one single stand-alone God. He is three in one. Again, something we can't wrap our minds around. But bear with me because, with that said, creating us in his image, he gives us this beautiful gift to love. But that's something that we need to decide. Are we going to keep that love and we just want to love ourself, or are we going to give that love to God and love him. So when Paul writes, just as he, god the Father, chose us in him, jesus, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, so it is through Jesus that, once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, that we should be holy and without blame before God the Father in love. That's what he decided. He didn't choose each of us separately yes, you, no, not you. You over here to the yes group, you over here to the no group. No. The decision that he made here was the very fact that it was through his son that we would become holy and without blame in the eyes of God the Father.

B.R.Maul: 12:10

Verse 5,. Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, so it is God's will that he predestined us to become adopted, adopted as sons by Jesus Christ to God the Father. Do you understand that? That predestination is the decision God made that I am going to make these people who believe on my son, jesus Christ adopted children. Now it says adopted sons Just a quick side note, because I have much to cover here. Yes, but adopted sons. The reason he uses adopted sons and not children is because in ancient times, when it comes to being a son, especially the firstborn son would receive more of the inheritance, and sons in ancient time received more than the daughters. That's just the way it was and I won't expand on any more than just that. That's just the way it was and I won't expand on any more than just that. But that's why, in reference to that, so whether you're a male or a female, you have the status of an adopted son. So again, I understand some of this is confusing, but let's move along.

B.R.Maul: 13:26

Verse 6, to the praise of the glory of his grace, oh, his beautiful grace. That's God, the Father's grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved, and that's capital B, so beloved, that would be Jesus Christ. He made us accepted in Jesus Christ. I told you we'd have a lot of in Jesus Christ, because it is in him that we have these bestowed blessings upon us and it is only through Jesus that we have eternal life, that our sins are forgiven. Verse 7, in him we have redemption through his blood. So that's Jesus. In Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, so that we are redeemed through the blood of Jesus and that redemption forgives us of sins, according to the riches of his grace which he made to abound towards us in all wisdom and prudence Verse 9,.

B.R.Maul: 14:30

Verse 9, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself. Having made known to us the mystery of his will, this mystery is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ, god the Father, going through the blood of his son, jesus Christ, to save all those who would, in time, believe unto his son. That's the mystery of his will. Again, his sovereignty should bring us great comfort because he reveals this mystery to us. Because he reveals this mystery to us, this message, when he sent his son Jesus Christ, jesus walked the earth. He had three and a half years of ministry and he revealed that to us. And his life, his death, his burial and resurrection is that great and wonderful, beautiful mystery that not only did Jesus teach about, but he lived it and showed us. And then, to this day, we pass that gospel message on to the rest of the world, so they too can know the mystery of God's will.

B.R.Maul: 15:44

Verse 10,. In the dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, in him. This is something that has not been completely revealed to us. The dispensation of the fullness of the times refers to the time when God's plan will be fully revealed, at the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is at that point that everyone will recognize that Jesus Christ is Lord, lord of all. Every knee will bend, every head will bow and, whether the soul of each person wants to or not, it will be confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord. That is the dispensation of the fullness of the times. The fullness of the times, that's a reminder that time in and of itself is limited. The fullness of the times For something to be full, it needs to have a limit, otherwise there's no way of being full. God created time and he did it for his goodwill. He did it for his master plan and this is all part of that plan.

B.R.Maul: 18:14

And where we live in the church age, we are at this point in time waiting for the rapture. Jesus will appear in the sky. He will not come down fully to earth. Then the church, so all of his saints that are alive, will be raptured up in heaven and we will be gone and there will be no one left on earth that is born again at that time. Anyways, now, from that time, it seems to be that the tribulation period will begin, where there will be seven years of the tribulation. During that time there will be people who are born again, or I should say will become born again. I have no doubt that the rapture itself will cause some people, that very hour, to be born again, but unfortunately for those souls, they will still have to live through the tribulation period or until their death, because it won't be over until the tribulation period is done.

B.R.Maul: 19:15

Then the second coming of Jesus Christ. He will reign for 1,000 years until the tribulation period is done. Then the second coming of Jesus Christ. He will reign for 1,000 years. At that point in time, the fullness of time, time itself will end. Verse 11,.

B.R.Maul: 19:27

In him also, we have obtained an inheritance. Isn't that something Going on being predestined? According to the purpose of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that he who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory? Indeed, we need to be thankful for all that that he predestined. He came up with this plan long ago according to his purpose, who works all things according to the counsel of his will. This is all God's will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. Brothers and sisters, such a blessing this is to have this inheritance bestowed upon us. Such a blessing this is to have this inheritance bestowed upon us for nothing that we have done, but for the very sake that God himself chose each of us, that he loved us and so he came and got us. We didn't run and try to find him. In fact, just the opposite. By our very sinful nature we run from God, but it is through his grace, through his predestined purpose, that he came and obtained us.

B.R.Maul: 20:37

Verse 12, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. That brings such great glory to God. To love his Son brings him such great glory. Verse 13, in him you also trusted. That's Jesus, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Who is the guarantee this is verse 14, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory. Amen and amen. I love these verses Because in him you also trusted. So the very fact beloved that you trusted in Jesus Christ and you did that.

B.R.Maul: 21:29

It says, after you heard the word of truth Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We don't just wake up one morning and decide, yeah, you know what I'm going to trust God, nope, but it's after you heard the word of truth. Remember that, because as a Christian, you need to continue to be in his word, because it is in his word that he continues to sanctify. You. Think about this for a moment. It is through the fact that you heard the word of truth that you heard the word of God, that you trusted in Jesus Christ. And by hearing the word of God you were justified. So when you were born again, instantly you were justified. So when you were born again, instantly, you were justified. So for that very reason, you should never stop hearing God's word.

B.R.Maul: 22:17

And in today's time, since in ancient times there were many more who didn't read, because either they didn't know how to read or there wasn't enough of God's word for everybody to have their own copy, like there is today, so they had to hear God's word. Today you have the privilege of also reading God's word anytime you want. You don't have to wait and go to the synagogue and hear whichever part they're reading, like they did in ancient times. It is through that process that you are sanctified. How much beloved do you want to be like Jesus? Hopefully, you want to be exactly like him, and although we cannot obtain that, at least on this side of eternity, because then we will be in his image as we are glorified in eternity. But that isn't now. We are in the process of being sanctified. So the more you want to be sanctified, the more you read God's word, the more you listen to God's word, and that is the gospel of your salvation.

B.R.Maul: 23:17

He goes on to say in whom, also having believed? So once you believed in Jesus, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And that is one of my favorite verses the very fact that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. This here goes to show that you cannot lose your salvation. It is impossible. If indeed you have trusted in Jesus and you believe in your heart that he is who he said, he is the Son of God, then you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. And it says you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Isn't that something? It's not. You will be sealed. You were sealed. It's a done deal.

B.R.Maul: 24:07

You may have days you don't feel close to God. You may have days that you yourself truly doubt your salvation. Sin will have that effect on us. We will feel horrible and like we failed our Heavenly Father. But there is no sin that you can commit that overpowers God, that will suddenly break that seal of promise. Do you realize that that would mean that you can sin so bad that you can make God break his promise? It's ludicrous to think that.

B.R.Maul: 24:41

And yet we have doctrines today. We have churches, we have entire denominations that teach that that you can be baptized when you're a little tiny baby but at the same time you can lose your salvation, and those that also teach that, even if you're not baptized as a little baby and you're baptized later in life, that you can still lose your salvation. Please understand this, beloved. That is false doctrine. It's evil, false doctrine. The reason it is so evil is because it is the main way, and probably really the only way, that churches can guarantee that you will come back week after week, afraid of losing your salvation, and that's not the reason we go to church, not at all.

B.R.Maul: 25:30

And verse 14, who is the guarantee of our inheritance? That's the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of our inheritance. Until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory, god's glory. This also solidifies the fact that there's no reversing what God has done, because the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. So, until the redemption, in other words, until Jesus comes back for his church, okay, the redemption of the purchased possession, redemption of the purchase possession. Okay, who made the purchase? Jesus made the purchase. What possession? You, if you're born again, you are the possession. Does that make sense? Because let me read that part again you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. So that is the promise. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance? Until the redemption, when Jesus comes, of the purchased possession. So, when Jesus comes for the possession that he purchased he used his blood to purchase all who believe on him. He comes back for us. So, until Jesus comes back for us, the Holy Spirit seals us. We're his children, no matter what happens. And amen, amen, amen to that. I am so thankful for that and that is the reason. Verse 13 and verse 14, those two verses are two of my favorite verses in God's Word. It completely highlights God's sovereignty, it highlights his love for us, it highlights his grace for us.

B.R.Maul: 27:27

Now, before I close, there's something a little more I want to say about predestination, because being chosen seems to imply that, well, we were chosen for a reason and we want to put that reason upon our self-beloved. But that's not true. It's not like being chosen by other people for something, like being chosen by other people for something. I remember in elementary school, either on the playground or during physical education time or gym class, that sometimes the teacher would choose two students to make teams and then they would start choosing who they wanted on their team. And of course, you know we all get excited and choose me, choose me. And we're waving our hands, jumping up and down and come on, come on me, me, me. And once your name was said, or they pointed the finger at you, wow, that feeling of I'm accepted, I'm chosen. And during those times, yes, without a doubt, humanly, we were chosen for reasons that served the purpose of either that game, depending on who was choosing, or you were just chosen because one of your friends really liked you and even though they thought well, not very good at sports, but I want my friend to be on my team for just the fact that maybe you were one of the cute kids that they just love to have next to you.

B.R.Maul: 28:48

I don't know, but there are many reasons why people choose. That isn't the reason, and that is certainly not at all what God used. God used his son as the measuring stick, how to measure who would be chosen, and not how well we can be like Jesus, but the very fact that we love him, that we accept him and that we believe on him, that he is our truth. That's the measurement right there. And once a person is born again, once a person says those words that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and in their heart they believe it, well, that's when God, by your name, calls you to his team, to his family. So nothing that we ourself did, but who we believe in, who we put our trust in.

B.R.Maul: 29:39

There are many Christians or people who believe they are Christian I'm not saying one way or the other that do buy into the fact that predestination means that everyone was predestined ahead of time to either go to heaven or go to hell. That's not God in the Bible. If you do believe that? Well, please get a hold of me. I have a website, brmaulcom. Go to contact and fill out that information and let me know, tell me, say this is what I believe and tell me why, and I'll be happy to send you information in God's word that explains that, so you can look straight into God's eyes and ask him. It's not what BR Maul is saying. No, it's what God is saying. It's whatever the Bible says.

B.R.Maul: 30:33

Beloved is what I teach. It's not at all my teaching. I want to do whatever God says to do. I don't have to agree with it, I don't even have to like it, but I do need to believe it and obey it. Now, as God's words go. I love God's word. It brings me such security and guidance in what I need to do day to day. But to get upset or mad at God thinking that he has chosen people to go to hell and others to go to heaven, whether those who he predestined to hell don't want to, they want to go to heaven or those he predestined to go to heaven, they don't want to, they don't want to live in his presence how ridiculous would that be. But with that said, I know I covered quite a bit of ground today, 14 verses. But we are in the book of Ephesians now we're still in chapter 1, and in the next teaching we'll continue in chapter 1, starting with verse 15.

B.R.Maul: 31:34

You're welcome to get a hold of me, ask me questions about God's Word. Something you disagree about? Well, let me know, let's talk about that, let's see what God says so we can grow together on that. I'd be happy to assist in any way I can Remember to stay in His Word beloved each and every day. The world is constantly sending you messages, whether it's TV, radio, books, video games, advertisements, music. The world is very loud and has its own message or messages, its own agenda, its own narrative.

B.R.Maul: 32:12

And so if you're not in God's word daily, well then you're only letting the world influence you and you're not allowing your heavenly father to sanctify you and strengthen you and build you up against this world. Come together with your brothers and sisters as often as possible. At least once a week would be the best. That's how you grow. Everything we do weekly is a part of who we are. Pray to your Heavenly Father daily and, of course, worship Him, love Him, Lift your hands to Him, sing to Him, pray to Him, worship Him by being kind to others, by singing to him, whatever it might be, but worship him. He is so deserving of our worship and our love. And until next time, god bless.