Today I move on to the third in a series of questions I have received via e-mail on baptism with the Holy Spirit.

What do you think is the direct result of being baptized by the Spirit, i.e. what is the practical result in, say, the life of a pastor or missionary?

If we look in Acts, we see that the disciples were transformed by the outpouring of the Spirit.

1. They became more bold
   
   
2. They were empowered to preach in such a way that multitudes were saved.
   
   
3. They were unafraid to face opposition.
   
   
4. They devoted themselves to the work of God.
   
   
5. There was much joy in the churches.
   
   
6. Commitment to each other was strong.
   
   
7. Meetings happened daily.
   
   
8. There was powerful prayer with dramatic answers.

Their very characters were changed and the apostles we read about in Acts seem very different from the timid, argumentative, selfish disciples of the gospels. Someone like Paul was totally transformed by his experience of the Spirit.

Some or all of those results should be expected in the life of a believer filled with the Spirit. In writing to the Galatians, Paul asks, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3—see my sermon on this passage.

The Spirit-filled person is conscious of another power within them. While we still work hard, that work is energized by another. The well-oiled heart makes many of life's problems seem somehow less difficult to face. Knowing the smile of God on us should give us confidence and assurance to do what he has called us to do.

The biggest change will hopefully be an end to persistent doubts and questionings about our own salvation. God pours out his spirit into our hearts as a foretaste of heaven, and to enable us to firmly understand that we are on our way there. The Spirit truly is a deposit that guarantees our inheritance (see Ephesians 1).

I suppose the difference is between strenuously pedaling a bicycle up a hill, and when over the brow of the hill, you begin to coast on the way down. It is certainly not wrong to pedal at this point, but doing so makes the ride even more exhilarating as you are no longer merely trying to get the bicycle going with your own effort, but are instead working with the mighty force of gravity!

But lest you think that us charismatics always live in the good of this experience, the answer is we do not. Even as I write this, I am convicted of my own need to go back to the Spirit for more power and more filling. I, too, have a tendency to try and live the Christian life in my own strength alone rather than relying on the Spirit’s enabling.

I have frequently quoted from the Doctor on sealing with the Spirit as I think he is very helpful in understanding the whole concept of Spirit baptism. He explains the functions of a seal, none of which can be adequately performed if the seal is something we don't know we have! More from the Doctor on sealing with the Spirit can be found here:

• Assorted Thoughts on the Baptism With the Holy Spirit
  
  
• MLJ Monday - Sealed with the Spirit, Part 1
  
  
• MLJ Monday - Sealed with the Spirit, Part 2
  
  
• MLJ Monday - Sealed with the Spirit, Part 3
  
  
• MLJ Monday - Sealing of the Spirit: Experiences and Gifts
  
  
• Round-Up - The Holy Spirit and the Charismatics
  
  
• Resurrection Empowered Life - The Deposit Guaranteering Our Inheritance

The Doctor was speaking about a verse from Ephesians 1 which, in the King James version, reads:

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13).

Here is some of what he says about those words, which I have quoted previously here:

“I am increasingly persuaded that it is our failure to understand this precise statement that accounts for so much lethargy and failure among us as Christian people at the present time. At least I will go so far as to assert that any Christian who is not experiencing the joy of salvation is in that state very largely because of a failure to realize the truth taught in this particular verse of Scripture, for in it we are brought face to face with the way in which we can enter into the fullness which we should be experiencing in Christ. To ‘rejoice in the Lord' . . . is an essential part of God's purpose for us in Christ. Our Lord Himself, at the end of His life on earth, said not only, 'My peace I give unto you', but also 'My joy' (John 15:11). That is the heritage of a Christian. Christian people should be full of joy and of peace and of happiness . . . but if we feel that we are ineffective as Christians and that our usefulness is not very evident, then I suggest it is . . . [because of] our failure to realize what is meant by God's sealing of His children by 'that holy Spirit of Promise'. . . .

Sealing is a subject that has caused much controversy. It is not an easy subject, therefore; nevertheless, we must face it. . . . Let us first take 'sealing' in its ordinary meaning . . . a seal is that which authenticates or conveys authority. Two men may draw up an agreement; it may be to sell a house or arrange a business. . . . Another meaning which attaches to 'sealing' is that it is a mark of ownership. . . . It is to indicate that something, whatever it is, belongs to and is the property of the person who has used that particular seal. . . . Furthermore, a seal is also used for the purpose of security. . . . If [the] seal has in any way been broken or marred it is an indication that someone has been tampering with [it]. . . . Thus we find that there are three main meanings to this term 'sealing''—authenticity and authority, ownership, and security and safety' and these will help us to understand what is meant by our being 'sealed by that holy Spirit of Promise'.

From D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, An Exposition of Ephesians 1 — God's Ultimate Purpose, "Sealed With the Spirit," Baker Books, October 2003, chapter 21, pp. 243-254.

For more information on Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones see this summary post or the MLJ Recording Trust.

More than once I have been accused of appropriating Lloyd-Jones to my charismatic cause. Today I want to restart my MLJ Monday tradition by sharing a quote which comes from a context where the Doctor is strongly disagreeing with one of my positions. He is talking about the so-called Ephesians 4 ministries. The Doctor divides these into two groups, believing that all but pastors and teachers are temporary. I believe that they all continue, although I think of modern-day apostles as being, in some important ways, different to the original. Anyway, the Doctor then goes on to speak into what is perhaps a less interesting discussion, but one that is worth opening up nonetheless. Does Paul have in mind two distinct groups, the pastors and the teachers, or one group of people who are both pastors and teachers? Let's see what he has to say:

The permanent offices are described as those of ‘pastors and teachers.’ This group is much simpler to understand, although there has been much dispute as to whether pastors and teachers are two different offices. I agree with those who say that they are one. Were they two separate offices we would expect to read, ‘He gave some, apostles; some, prophets; some, evangelists; some, pastors; some, teachers’; but the apostle writes, ‘some, pastors and teachers,’ linking the two together; and generally speaking, these two offices are found in the same man. They apply to a more settled state of the Church, and have persisted throughout the centuries. The office of a pastor is generally concerned about government and instruction and rule and direction. It is borrowed, of course, from the picture of a shepherd. The shepherd shepherds his flock, keeps the sheep in order, directs them where to go and where to feed, brings them back to the fold, looks after their safety and guards them against enemies liable to attack them. It is a great office, but unfortunately it is a term which has become debased. A pastor is a man who is given charge of souls. He is not merely a nice, pleasant man who visits people and has an afternoon cup of tea with them, or passes the time of day with them. He is the guardian, the custodian, the protector, the organizer, the director, the ruler of the flock. The teacher gives instruction in doctrine, in truth. The Apostle proceeds to elaborate this, showing that we need to be built up, and that we must not remain ‘babes.’ We must be protected against ‘every wind of doctrine,’ and the way to do so is to give instruction and teaching.

Although I say that these two offices generally go together and have done so throughout the long history of the Church, sometimes one man has had more of a pastoral gift than a teaching or preaching gift; at other times a man has more of a teaching and preaching gift than a pastoral gift. This is a matter of individual variation according to the gift of the Spirit. But in the Church you have these offices, these men who teach and preach and care for the souls of the members of the church."

— David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Christian Unity, Studies in Ephesians (Chapter 4, verses 1 through 16), Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1972, p. 192.

For more information on Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, see this summary post or the MLJ Recording Trust.

UPDATE
I have had an e-mail from a correspondent who strongly believes that Lloyd-Jones was wrong about pastors and teachers being one office. My correspondent cited the grammatical work of Dan Wallace (see p. 284 of his Greek Grammar—Beyond the Basics) and an article on the evangelist, which discusses this point (p. 30ff).

I also have had another e-mail on the subject which said, "We actually had to study a full-length technical paper on this verse by Dan Wallace as part of our second-year Greek course. He does not argue that they must be two separate offices—he does not go that far. What he says is that the Greek language does not demand that they be one office. We should determine the answer from the context. Personally I go with theoretically separate giftings which are very commonly held by the same person. (Apostles can also be teachers, etc.)"

Today I thought I would share a very provocative quote from the good Doctor. I would be very interested in my readers' thoughts on this passage. If you have a blog, feel free to quote this, link to it, and tell us what you think. If you don't have one, and have some thoughts you'd like to share with me, drop me an e-mail at adrian.warnock@gmail.com. The quote is clear enough to stand on its own without any further explanation from me.

"There is nothing, I am convinced, that so ‘quenches’ the Spirit as the teaching which identifies the baptism of the Holy Ghost with regeneration. But it is a very commonly held teaching today, indeed it has been the popular view for many years. It is said that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is ‘nonexperimental’, that it happens to every one at regeneration. So we say, ‘Ah well, I am already baptized with the Spirit; it happened when I was born again, at my conversion; there is nothing for me to seek, I have got it all’. Got it all? Well, if you have ‘got it all’, I simply ask in the Name of God, why are you as you are? If you have ‘got it all’, why are you so unlike the Apostles, why are you so unlike the New Testament Christians?

The teaching that I have just mentioned is false. The apostles were regenerate before the day of Pentecost. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is not identical with regeneration; it is something separate. It matters not how long the interval between the two may be, there is a difference; there is an interval, they are not identical. But if you say that they are identical, you do not expect anything further. And if you do not believe that it is possible for you to experience the Spirit of God bearing direct witness with your own spirit that you are a child of God, obviously you are quenching the Spirit. That is why so many Christian people are miserable and unhappy; they do not know anything about crying out, ‘Abba, Father’; or about ‘the Spirit of adoption’. God is a Being away in the far distance; they do not know Him as a loving Father; they do not know that they are His children. They may believe it intellectually, theoretically; but Paul says, ‘You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear’. We are not to go about groaning and wondering whether we are Christians or not. We were in that state under the law; then we were wretched and we cried out, ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?’ But no longer! ‘We have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry’—and it is an elemental cry that comes from the depth of the personality—‘Abba, Father’."

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Christian Warfare: An Exposition of Ephesians 6:10-13, 280 (Edinburgh; Carlisle, PA, Banner of Truth Trust, 1976).

UPDATE
So far we have four responses to this quote. First up is my buddy, Chris, who—with suitable reluctance considering the stature of the Doctor—makes clear that he disagrees. Meanwhile, Craig Bennett has been persuaded by the Doctor. Henry can see both sides, while Gary finds me frustrating and stimulating—and incidentally quite correctly points out that the Doctor was not a charismatic, as well as advancing some of the strongest arguments against the Doctor's position. Gary, I don't intend to imply that the Doctor was in my "camp"—I quote many people from all kinds of backgrounds and I often quote people expressing positions I don't personally hold.

In the previous segment of this interview with Rob Rufus, we finished by talking a bit about the network of churches of which he is a part. We ended with Rob speaking about a team of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors/ teachers. Today we begin by asking Rob what he means by “apostles.”

For more information about the concept of apostles today, see my post "apostles are meant for today," the section of my interview with the leader of Newfrontiers which asks what Terry Virgo means by apostles today. For a response to our view from someone who respectfully disagrees, see when I ask Wayne Grudem about apostles today. Interestingly, some respected cessationists such as Liam Goligher argue that we need something similar to apostles, although presumably he would be less happy with calling them that. You will notice that I have used the word "apostles" with a small "a," even when that is grammatically incorrect. That is because we like to distinguish between the original "Apostles," who were in certain important ways unique, and other "apostles."

Adrian
You used that word “apostolic,” and I’m very aware that some of my readers will wonder, “What do you mean by that?” Can you explain your perspective of what that means?

Rob Rufus
Yes, and I think that is a very good question, because people are asking that, and it really is something people want to have clarity on. Often people think apostles are those who write Scripture, and that if we’re claiming we’ve got apostles today, we claim that the canon of Scripture’s not closed. But as we know, it IS closed, and that [New Testament] Scripture was written only by apostles in the first century. So we have pre-ascension apostles in the Bible and post-ascension apostles. Anyone who believes the Bible is God’s inspired Word will realize there must be apostles around today—they’re not pre-ascension apostles. The pre-ascension apostles are the twelve apostles of the Lamb that were called primarily to be witnesses to the baptism of Jesus, his life, his resurrection. But after Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended on high (Ephesians 4) he gave some to be apostles. So there are post-ascension apostles as well, and he says they will be in the earth until the Church comes to the full measure of the stature of Christ. We know the Church is not at the full measure of the stature of Christ currently, so we will need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the equipping of the believers, the saints, for the work of the ministry until we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and to the full measure of the stature of Christ. So apostles need to be “until.” That word “until” offers the key word.

Adrian
Yes, very good. I think it’s Matthew Henry who looks at that passage and says something like, “These gifts (or rather some of them) will continue until the end.” It’s an interesting approach, I guess. If the apostles stop, why doesn’t the pastor stop?

Rob Rufus
Exactly! Exactly!

Tope
Yes, absolutely. I think you put it very, very well, and in a very helpful way because, certainly I know that for us, just working as we see the Bible order these things functioning together with apostles in the midst and all the other gifts, it’s been an incredible help. Near the end, it does say he gives these as gifts. He must know that we need these gifts. There’s something very powerful there. Every time we align ourselves with the biblical order that God has put in place, goodness and blessing come out the other end. So we’re all learning this.

Rob Rufus
Very good, Tope! I agree. I agree. I think when people hear of apostles, they kind of think of some sort of hierarchy and almost a controlling dictator-type where apostles are self-appointed and really think they are the big bosses of the church, you know, but actually Paul says, “We, the apostles, come at the end of the line.” There is nothing dictatorial, although Paul was incredibly anointed in such power and theology and revelation, he came amongst the churches like a father—he said almost like a nursing mother to the Thessalonians. And he speaks about of his affection for them and his friendship for them, and the care for the churches. So there is a hierarchy there. But Paul wouldn’t even put the word “apostle” in front of his name. He always put it behind his name: “Paul, called to be an apostle.” He is saying “apostle” is not my title, it’s my job description. So you’ll never see the word “apostle” in front of Paul’s name, or any of the guy’s names. Even at home, I like to say to people, “Look, I’m Rob, called to be a pastor to you.” Pastor is my job description; it’s not my title. People say, “I’ve got to call you “Pastor Rob” because that’s a sign of respect.” And I say, “Well, then, I’ve got to call you Mechanic Henry. Or Housewife Jill." I don’t show you respect by calling your job description as your title. I think every sincere person who loves the Scriptures—we need to say the Bible plus nothing, the Bible minus nothing—and we build our theology, our church practice—not only our doctrine of Hebrews 6: faith, repentance, you know, all of the doctrine. But the government, the way church is governed, needs to come back to Scripture as well.

Adrian
Yes, and I think that’s so right. It seems like, I guess it’s almost like we have blind spots—where we want the Bible up to this point, but no further. I guess church history is a bit like that—you look back in church history and you see some of these guys in the past, and you think, “How could you see so much great stuff and not this?!”

Rob Rufus
Yes! Very good! Yes! Yes!

Tope
I think the real enemy just tries to blind us and stop us from seeing certain things and living in the good of certain things. But God is still on the throne and seeking to bring recovery to everything.

When you talk about Paul there, and his movement in church planting—you’ve moved now from South Africa and you find yourself . . . where do you find yourself these days? (Laughter)

Rob Rufus
Well, we planted a church in South Africa and led it for twelve years, handed it over, and then we re-located to Australia to help Dudley, who started the NCMI family of churches and apostolic team. We worked with him there for thirteen years. He actually handed the church over to me and he headed to the United States for awhile—for a number of years—so I led that church for seven years and then handed the church over to Tyrone Daniel, who is Dudley’s son. And then for three years we traveled full-time internationally equipping and training churches in evangelism, and signs and wonders, and doing crusades around the world. And then God spoke very clearly and said, “I want you to go plant a church in Hong Kong,”—which was a real challenge to me because I don’t speak Cantonese or Putonghua, which is Mandarin. But we very clearly heard the call to go. So we started with five people in Hong Kong—no one knew us, knew our history! But God has blessed us here. In three years we have seen local Chinese people saved and added, so we are enjoying it and beginning to move into the China mainland as well and help plant churches in the mainland.

Adrian
Praise God! That’s really great. So, within your family of churches, is that quite an unusual thing to go church planting? I mean, do you just have a few churches or what?

Rob Rufus
We’ve been going from probably the mid-80’s, so it is just over twenty years, and a number of guys and girls together on teams are relocating, planting churches internationally. And more and more we do want it to have a total indigenous flavour. We don’t want it to be—we’re not exporting South African culture that’s for sure! We want it to be Kingdom culture, so when the culture of the country we go to is consistent with the Kingdom culture, those elements of the culture, we say let’s celebrate that. But where the culture contradicts the culture of the Kingdom, then the Christians need to make the adjustments to conform to the culture of the Kingdom. So, yeah, there is that spearheading—more and more people going into different nations and planting, but we also kind of plant and parent. There are churches out there going—we really need to be connected with an apostolic team that can help us build foundation into the life of our churches We never own those churches, but work as friends with those churches through the invitation of the leaders— only through invitation of the leaders. There is no headquarters that says, “We own you and you’re just another statistic. If you don’t line up with us, then we’ll take your building, kick you out”—none of that! We don’t own any buildings. The local church is the highest governing authority; they own their buildings. We build friendship with them and relationship, so we also have had, over those twenty years, probably (we don’t know, you gotta be careful) I’m going to say some thousands of churches, but that represents throughout most of Africa, we have churches. In one year we had 500 churches planted in Malawi alone, but it just happens in Africa. It just happens. But in the Western world, no, we don’t have thousands; we’re talking hundreds in the Western world.

Continued in part 5 . . .

The following notes are based on a sermon I preached yesterday at Jubilee Church, London. It draws to a close our series on Ephesians. You can download the mp3 or listen right here:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:10-20)

During World War II, if you lived in London you were in a war. You could try and deny it. You could pretend it wasn't happening. But to do so you would be a fool. Every air raid siren, every mad scramble to the shelters, every destroyed home would remind you—the enemy was REAL and he was coming to get you.

Some people today act like the world is at peace. It is not. We all face a danger more deadly than air raids or suicide bombers. There is an enemy who is at work to destroy the world. You and I were born onto a battlefield, and we will live all our lives and then die on a battlefield.

The devil has many schemes. Today we will look at some of the main ones. First, he has two over-arching strategies.

1. He loves people to become fascinated with him. It was his pride that made him evil. He wants the attention and praise that is due God. Every time someone visits a medium or reads a horoscope, he has succeeded in turning someone from trusting God for their future. We see a rise in all kinds of strange spirituality because people are looking for a power encounter. Sadly an experience of power is all too often not available in the church—which is the one place where it should be seen! Meditation which empties the mind, hypnotism, witchcraft, and many other similar things all come from the devil, and the Christian has no business playing with them.
   
   Even within the church the devil uses this strategy. There are those who spend much time praying against the "spiritual forces in power in the air" which they say are over an area, forgetting that Jesus is Lord and has already defeated the evil powers! Or they blame the devil for every cold that comes their way—we live in a fallen world; let's not give the devil too much credit. But in reacting to this ploy of the devil of drawing attention to himself, too often we fall into the opposite error.
   
   
2. The devil loves to make people ignorant of him and his schemes. In the sophisticated West we easily forget him. He is happy for us to do so. Dressing himself up as the god of Mammon, we fall in line and worship him more dutifully than the so-called "ignorant, and uncivilized" people who worship spirits. "More, more, more," says Mammon. Just a bit more. Feed your flesh. Feed the hunger I am causing. You don't need God, you need ME. More, more, more. Just a bit more. Then you will be happy. Last year's mobile phone? That's no good now—what you need is the latest ... the best ... your provider will even upgrade you for free if you sign up for another year's service!!

"Not ignorant of his schemes." 2 Corinthians 2:11 NIV.

He is often disguised.

“A thorough knowledge of the enemy and a healthy respect for his prowess are a necessary preliminary to victory in war. Similarly, if we underestimate our spiritual enemy, we shall see no need for God’s armour, we shall go out to the battle unarmed, with no weapons but our own puny strength, and we shall be quickly and ignominiously defeated.”

Stott, J. R. W. (1979, 1980). God's New Society: The Message of Ephesians (263). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Story of Jewish exorcists in Ephesus (from Acts). Need to be properly prepared!!! The burning of the occult books was also in Ephesus. So the readers were well aware of the role of the devil.

Don't underestimate Satan and his demonic powers!

Our enemy is powerful—“the cosmic powers ...”

Our enemy is wicked—“spiritual forces of evil.”

Our enemy is crafty—“the schemes of the devil.”

In this passage we see the antedote to some of the devil's schemes. Lying behind Paul's description of our fight and the armour we are to use are the ways in which the devil most likes to attack.

1. First, the devil encourages us to substitute ourselves for God. In Genesis it is the devil who tells Eve, “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:4). Of course, his real goal is not that we become lord, but rather that we end up worshipping him. Like he said to Jesus, he tells us he can make us lord if we just bow the knee to him. 1 Samuel 15:23: "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (KJV). Our response to this is simple—NO, we will be strong IN THE LORD, not in ourselves! James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Do you realize that pride is demonic? We should flee from it as much as we flee from devil worship.
   
   
2. The devil loves to distract us by making us think people are the real enemy. But "OUR ENEMY IS NOT FLESH AND BLOOD.” He would even be happy if our focus was on opposing his servants. Behind every enemy of the gospel lies a far more deadly enemy—Satan. Our war is with him. Everyone else is just a casualty of war, enscripted by the evil master. When we meet someone who serves the devil we should still hold out the hand of Christian love to that person and aim to win them over! “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). We are not to be like that! We are not looking for someone to devour and criticize and prove wrong! He is the accuser of the brothers (Revelation 12:10). He sows disunity and bitterness between us. He loves to destroy relationships, especially marriages. Every time we give in to the temptation to be nasty to someone, we give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:27).
   
   
3. The devil teaches us to lie. He lied to Eve. “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). Lies can be flagrant or they can be subtle. They are all of the devil. Jesus had the following very strong words to say of some Jews of his day: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me” (John 8:44-45). Every "white lie" is inspired from the pit of hell. It's demonic. Every bit as much so as sorcery or devil worship! It is interesting then to see what the first piece of armour Paul mentions is—the belt of TRUTH. How do we primarily fight the enemy? By replacing his strategies and tools with the opposite. We fight a lie with the truth.
   
   
4. The devil teaches us to substitute our own righteousness for that of God's. There are a lot of theological arguments these days about the basic Christian doctrine of us having received from God an alien righteousness with which to cover ourselves and by which we can be justified. The picture here of a breastplate of righteousness expresses the image wonderfully. We are now clothed in the righteousness of God. It is expressed here as part of the armour because to inspire doubt in this righteousness is, of course, one of the devil's main schemes. We don't tend to think of doctrine as a demonic battleground, but it is. We don't tend to think of doctrinal error as coming from Satan, but it does.
   
   Let's see how Paul responded to the Galatians, who had slipped away from grace into legalism:

   “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'?” (Galatians 3:1-6)

   BEWITCHMENT. That's a strong, demonic word. Because this is one of the devil's KEY strategies. If he can persuade us to throw away our confidence in Jesus and substitute confidence in our own righteousness, he has won. For if we lose this, we lose the gospel. Never forget the enemy's role in leading the church astray doctrinally. How do we fight it? By cherishing doctrine and living in the good of it!
   
   
5. The devil prevents evangelism and the reception of truth. “Feet fitted ...” 2 Corinthians 4:4: “... the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” We fail to recognize this work of the enemy. When we share the gospel and some one fails to respond, we give up. We think “we did it wrong” or “they just aren't interested.” Then we become disheartened and are no longer ready to share the gospel. This is warfare beloved! We have to understand and recognize that rejection of the gospel is demonic. It is inspired by the enemy. So how do we fight this? We fight it by being ready to share the gospel!
   
   
6. The devil breeds passivity in us. There is another strategy we can discern here—the opposite of readiness is passivity. Adam was there in the Garden and did nothing. He said nothing. He sat by and watched his wife fall. That was surely as demonically inspired as Eve's active sin. This one is especially for the men among us, but it is also for each of us. Spending our entire lives sitting on the sofa flicking TV channels while we let the world quite literally go to hell is inexcusable. If the devil can inspire us to just sit back and do nothing he has won. This is particularly true in evangelism, but it is true in all of life. Have you ever thought that the raging desire in your heart to "just rest"—that longing to spend your life in leisure, might actually be demonically inspired? Of course, God invented rest and we need to rest! But to allow rest and passivity to rule in our hearts is to cede defeat to the enemy! This one is there throughout this passage—“stand,” “be strong,” “be ready,” “wrestle,” “stand firm,” etc....
   
   
7. The devil breeds doubt, fear, and mistrust. This is the opposite of faith. “Did God really say?” said the serpent to Eve. “God has withheld something good from you,” or “Will he really act on your behalf?” We, of course, fight this by determining to trust in God and not think he is a liar. That is my definition of faith: Not accusing God of being a liar! Growing in our confidence in God's love, power, and goodness really is a shield of faith that protects us.
   
   
8. The devil plays tricks with our minds. Thinking about salvation protects our minds. “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
   
   
9. The devil misinterprets God's Word. He adds to it (“touch it and we will die”); he twists it (“every tree,” when God banned only one). Our offensive weapon is the Bible! Satan used the Scriptures to tempt Jesus. Beware of any preacher or book which tells you a complicated story of why a verse doesn't really mean what it seems to simply mean. This is one of the devil's favorite tricks. It means that even in our study of God's Word and the writings about it we must be aware of the devil's schemes. Remember the danger of pride in our learning. “'Knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 7:1).
   
   
10. The devil distracts us from prayer. This is why Paul urges us to pray here.

So how do we fight the devil?

• We fight him by using the opposite strategies.
  
  
• We fight him with the Word of God.
  
  
• We fight him in prayer.

In closing . . .

Which side are you on? We need to be wholehearted one way or the other. If the devil is God, why not serve him fully? If God is God, why not sign up as his soldier?

John Stott's Bible Speaks Today commentary on Ephesians has the following quote on the work of the devil. It was reading the last paragraph of this quote that gave me the idea of how to approach Ephesians 6 in the sermon I will be preaching this morning:

“We have had occasion several times in our study of this letter to marvel at the breadth of Paul’s horizons. He began by unfolding God’s purpose, conceived in a past eternity before the foundation of the world, to create a single new human race through the death and resurrection of Christ and ultimately to unite the whole church and the whole creation under Christ’s headship . . .

The old days of division and discrimination have gone. A brand new oneness has emerged, in which through union with Christ Jews and Gentiles are equal members of the same body and equal sharers in the same promise. So now the one Father has one family, the one Messiah-Saviour one people, and the one Spirit one body. These sure facts of what God has done through Christ and by the Spirit form the basis on which Paul went on to issue his eloquent appeal. His readers must live a life that is ‘worthy’ of their calling and ‘fitting’ to their status as God’s new and reconciled society. They must demonstrate their unity in the Christian fellowship, while at the same time rejoicing in the diversity of their gifts and so of their ministries. They must put away all the uncleanness of their pre-conversion behaviour and live a life of ‘true righteousness and holiness’. And they must learn to submit to one another in every kind of domestic relationship and so promote harmony in their homes. Unity, diversity, purity and harmony—these the apostle has stressed as major characteristics of the new life and the new society in Christ. It has seemed a beautiful ideal, an obviously desirable goal, and not so difficult to attain.

But now Paul brings us down to earth, and to realities harsher than dreams. He reminds us of the opposition. Beneath surface appearances an unseen spiritual battle is raging. He introduces us to the devil (already mentioned in 2:2 and 4:27) and to certain ‘principalities and powers’ at his command . . .

Is God’s plan to create a new society? Then they will do their utmost to destroy it. Has God through Jesus Christ broken down the walls dividing human beings of different races and cultures from each other? Then the devil through his emissaries will strive to rebuild them. Does God intend his reconciled and redeemed people to live together in harmony and purity? Then the powers of hell will scatter among them the seeds of discord and sin.”

Stott, J. R. W. (1979, 1980). God's New Society : The Message of Ephesians (260). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

We have been speaking about Ephesians a fair bit recently on this blog. I thought today I would share the following quote from the Doctor, which summarizes the book's message.

". . . we can say of the first three chapters that the Apostle is reminding these Ephesians . . . who they are, what they are, and how they have become what they are. That is his theme. All the major doctrines of the Christian faith are to be found in these first three chapters . . .

But the Apostle desires the Ephesians to understand above all else the privileges that belong to such a life . . . if we but realized the exalted character of what he calls our ‘high calling’, the whole situation would be transformed. He writes three chapters to bring them face to face with this teaching.

Then, having done that, the Apostle begins to appeal to them, and plead with them to live in a manner that is worthy of their calling. Such is the apostolic method. Paul never starts with morality and behaviour . . .

Paul therefore argues, Because you are God’s dear children, you do not behave as other people, there is something special about you, and you show this constantly in your demeanour . . .

Paul’s argument is that as we are filled with the Holy Spirit we must live in a way that is unique, a thing we can never do unless we are filled with the Spirit. He works that out along various lines. If you are filled with the Spirit, he says, when you meet together in church fellowship, there will be great praise and thanksgiving. ‘Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ What a picture of the Christian Church, and what a contrast to what is so often seen today!

Then the Apostle proceeds to say that we are all to be subject one to another, and he works that out in three main respects. Wives are to be subject to their husbands, children are to be subject to their parents, servants are to be subject to their masters. But he always puts it in a doctrinal manner. The husband is to love his wife ‘even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it’. You cannot find such subjection in anybody except Christians. But every Christian husband and wife should be manifesting the fact that they are ‘filled with the Spirit’; and they should be an astonishment to the world. The same is true of the relationship of children and parents. It is to be the exact opposite of what we are witnessing today—not lawlessness, but ‘honouring father and mother’. And the father must not ‘provoke his children to wrath’. On the contrary, because he is ‘filled with the Spirit’, there is understanding, tolerance, patience and everything that is necessary. And it is to be the same with Christian masters and servants, and with Christian servants and masters. Paul always deals with the two sides. He tells the servants, who were slaves in those days, how they are to behave; he tells the masters also to remember ‘that your Master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him’. In these ways Paul shows how, in life’s various relationships, this ‘life in the Spirit’ manifests itself.

Having done all that, the Apostle now says ‘Finally, my brethren’, as if to say, Now in the light of all I have been telling you about yourselves, and of the kind of life you have to live, is that all? ‘No’, he says, ‘there is still one other matter.’ That is the matter he now introduces for our consideration. He cannot stop at the end of the ninth verse in chapter 6, and for this reason, that we do not live this Christian life in a vacuum. It is not just a matter of, ‘Well, there it is all set out for you; now go and do it.’ There is another matter that must be considered, there is another factor that in a sense Paul has not mentioned yet, namely, the mighty opposition to Christian living which we all inevitably encounter in this world of time.

That is the subject Paul introduces here. He has reminded us of what we are, he has shown us the possibilities that belong to our new position, and there is no limit, no end, to them. ‘That ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.’ ‘That ye might apprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.’ Limitless! endless! ‘Oh,’ you say, ‘how wonderful!’ Wait a minute! says Paul. Let me remind you that you have to live that kind of life in a world in which there is a tremendous power working against you, that you will be engaged in a terrible conflict with the devil and all his forces. If you do not realize that, he says, and take the appropriate action with respect to it, you will undoubtedly and inevitably be defeated. "

Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (1976). The Christian Warfare: An Exposition of Ephesians 6:10-13 (10). Edinburgh; Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust.

Over at our church's website we continue to post our sermons, working through the book of Ephesians. We are discovering just how full of goodness it really is! This book is surely the message of the Bible condensed. Who needs a doctrinal statement when you can have Ephesians instead? One man who plumbed the depths of Ephesians was, of course, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones as Ryan of Light and Heat (not to be confused with Heat and Light!) has discovered:

"Over the last two years, I have been been under a doctor's care. But don't worry. My doctor's name is D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, affectionately known as "The Doctor" to those who are familiar with his life and ministry. Even though the Lord called him home in 1981, this physician of the soul has continued to minister to people's needs through his printed sermons, lectures, and audio messages.

I willingly put myself under his care beginning in September of 2005, and ever since then he has been carefully dispensing measured doses of Ephesians to me. Two years and eight volumes later, I am delighted to report that my spiritual health is markedly improved. Without a doubt, this Doctor has a God-given giftedness to make spiritual diagnoses—and then prescribe the truth of Scripture to meet my exact need.

I have to admit that on many a morning I slugged into my study mentally drained, physically weary, and spiritually discouraged (ministry has a way of doing that to a man). But as I read Ephesians bit by bit—and subjected my soul to Lloyd-Jones' expositions—nearly every day I found myself being revived back to life. Was it God's Word that affected me most? Absolutely. Lloyd-Jones would have it no other way. But this physician of the soul knew exactly how the prescription was to be written and the medicine was to be applied. And for that I am eternally grateful."

Fred Sanders has a great post interacting with Thomas Goodwin's exalted view of Ephesians. Goodwin is not alone. In the "Introduction" to his series on Ephesians, Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote this:

"It is very difficult to speak of [Ephesians] in a controlled manner because of its greatness and because of its sublimity. Many have tried to describe it. One writer has described it as 'the crown and climax of Pauline theology'. Another has said that it is 'the distilled essence of the Christian religion, the most authoritative and most consummate compendium of our holy Christian faith'. What language! And it is by no means exaggerated.

. . . . the peculiar feature and characteristic of the Epistle to the Ephesians is that here the Apostle seems to be, as he puts it himself, in 'the heavenly places', and he is looking down at the great panorama of salvation and redemption . . . The result is that in this Epistle there is very little controversy; and that is so because his great concern here was to give to the Ephesians . . . a panoramic view of this wondrous and glorious work of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

. . . Luther says of the Epistle to the Romans that it is 'the most important document in the New Testament, the gospel in its purest expression', and in many ways I agree that there is no purer, plainer statement of the gospel than in the Epistle to the Romans. Accepting that as true, I would venture to add if the Epistle to the Romans is the purest expression of the gospel, the Epistle to the Ephesians is the sublimest and the most majestic expression of it. . . .There are statements and passages in this Epistle which really baffle description. The great Apostle piles epithet upon epithet, adjective upon adjective, and still he cannot express himself adequately. There are passages in [the] first chapter, and others in the third chapter, especially towards its end, where the Apostle is carried out above and beyond himself and loses and abandons himself in a great outburst of worship and praise and thanksgiving. I repeat, therefore, that there is nothing more sublime in the whole range of Scripture than this Epistle to the Ephesians.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. God's Ultimate Purpose—An Exposition of Ephesians 1, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1978, pp. 11-12.

It seems then that Lloyd-Jones ranked Ephesians very highly indeed. I suspect it is only his challenging views on 'sealing with the Spirit' that have stopped the Doctor's far shorter work on Ephesians from being as well known as his major work on Romans. I strongly urge every would-be preacher to do what I did decades ago and get yourself a copy and read through Ephesians with Martyn Lloyd-Jones as your guide.

Anyway, here is Fred:

[Goodwin] quotes Jerome’s comment that Ephesians is “like the heart in the midst of the body,” (quomodo cor animalis in medio est), and says that just as the heart is “the prime seat and fountain of spirits, and the fullest thereof,” Ephesians has everything important in it that you can find anywhere in Scripture. In fact, it has “more of the spirits, the quintessence of the mysteries of Christ,” than can be found anywhere else in the Bible.

And in case you don’t believe Goodwin or Jerome, Goodwin hazards the observation that Paul himself seemed to be aware that he’d written something especially specially special: In Ephesians 3:3, Paul says that a rich treasury of insight into the mystery of the gospel had been given to him, “as I said before.” Goodwin thinks “as I said before” means “up there, the last couple of chapters.”

If you are interested in finding out more about Ephesians, feel free to follow along with our church as we preach our way through this amazing book. Either subscribe to our podcast or visit Jubilee Church, London.

The Doctor defines grace and our salvation in such a way in this quote that I simply HAD to share it with you:

. . . we are Christians entirely and solely as the result of the grace of God. Let us remind ourselves once more that ‘grace’ means unmerited, undeserved favour. It is an action which arises entirely from the gracious character of God. So the fundamental proposition is that salvation is something that comes to us entirely from God's side. What is still more important is this, that it not only comes from God's side, it comes to us in spite of ourselves—‘unmerited’ favour. In other words, it is not God's response to anything in us. Now there are many people who seem to think that it is—that salvation is God's response to something in us. But the word ‘grace’ excludes that. It is in spite of us. . . .

Salvation is not in any sense God's response to anything in us. It is not something that we in any sense deserve or merit. The whole essence of the teaching at this point, and everywhere in all the New Testament, is that we have no sort or kind of right whatsoever to salvation, that the whole glory of salvation is, that though we deserved nothing but punishment and hell and banishment out of the sight of God to all eternity, yet God, of His own love and grace and wondrous mercy, has granted us this salvation. Now that is the entire meaning of this term ‘grace’. . . .

Creatures who were spiritually dead are now alive—how has it happened? Can a dead man raise himself? It is impossible. There is only one answer, ‘By grace ye are saved’. . . .

I must confess it passes my comprehension to understand how any Christian looking at himself or herself can say anything different. If when you get on your knees before God you do not realise that you are a 'debtor to mercy alone’, I confess I do not understand you. There is something tragically defective, either in your sense of sin or in your realisation of the greatness of God's love.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. God's Way of Reconciliation—An Exposition of Ephesians 2, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Book House, 1972, p. 130.

For more information on Lloyd-Jones, his sermons, books, etc. see the  MLJ Recordings Trust.

Awhile back I blogged extensively about the atonement. I remember using an argument that others have also used—that the cross is only truly essential if, on it, Jesus bears the wrath of God. Lloyd-Jones obviously thought this before I did, and I like the way he puts it in the following quote:

. . . As Christians we believe that the Son of God came into this world, that He laid aside the insignia of His eternal glory, was born as a babe in Bethlehem, and endured all that He endured, because that was essential for our salvation. But the question is, Why was it essential to our salvation? Why did all that have to take place before we could be saved? I defy anyone to answer that question adequately without bringing in this doctrine of the judgment of God and of the wrath of God. This is still more true when you look at the great doctrine of the cross and the death of our blessed Lord and Saviour. Why did Christ die? Why had He to die? If we say that we are saved by His blood, why are we saved by His blood? Why was it essential that He should die on that cross and be buried and rise again before we could be saved? There is only one adequate answer to these questions, and that is this doctrine of the wrath of God. The death of our Lord upon the cross is not absolutely necessary unless this doctrine is true."

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. God's Way of Reconciliation—An Exposition of Ephesians 2, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 1972, pp. 49-50.

For more information on Lloyd-Jones, his sermons, books, etc. see the official site at MLJ Recordings Trust.

Photo of Lloyd-Jones courtesy of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Online.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones was not known as "The Doctor" merely because he had a medical degree. He was a master spiritual diagnostician, and skillfully applied treatment with God's Word to our condition. The following extract is a good example of this, dealing as it does with the nature of sin and its relationship to our prideful independence, which we today call "self-sufficiency."

"The fatal mistake is to think of sin always in terms of acts and of actions rather than in terms of nature, and of disposition. The mistake is to think of it in terms of particular things instead of thinking of it, as we should, in terms of our relationship to God. Do you want to know what sin is? I will tell you. Sin is the exact opposite of the attitude and the life which conform to, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.' If you are not doing that you are a sinner. It does not matter how respectable you are; if you are not living entirely to the glory of God, you are a sinner. And the more you imagine that you are perfect in and of yourself and apart from your relationship to God, the greater is your sin. That is why anyone who reads the New Testament objectively can see clearly that the Pharisees of our Lord's time were greater sinners (if you can use such terms) than were the publicans and open sinners. Why? Because they were self-satisfied, because they were self-sufficient. The height of sin is not to feel any need of the grace of God. There is no greater sin than that. Infinitely worse than committing some sin of the flesh is to feel that you are independent of God, or that Christ need never have died on the cross of Calvary. There is no greater sin than that. That final self-sufficiency, and self-satisfaction, and self-righteousness, is the sin of sins; it is sin at its height, because it is spiritual sin . . . ."

Lloyd-Jones, D. M. God's Way of Reconciliation - An Exposition of Ephesians 2. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1972, p. 33.

This is some notes from a sermon I preached last Sunday. You can download the audio or listen to it right here with this player.

The following notes havent gone through my usual 'tidying up' process and I thought I would share them with you without any real editorial input just so you can see quite how chaotic my mind truly is! If they don't make much sense to you, hopefully the audio will be clearer!

Paul begins this second chapter in the context of a glorious description of the power of God at the end of the last chapter – there were no chapter breaks when he wrote it. As we will see that amazing power of God was necessary to bring salvation to us.

1. the state of the sinner: OUR Problem without God - “Dead in sins”
life without God – is death
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
DEAD to God but alive to SIN. Look pretty alive dont we! But, we are not in the doghouse but dead. God made us for himself! Might feed the hungry and it is still sin - coz not done for the glory of God - Rom 1 falling short of glory .....its all sin if God is neglected our righteous acts are as filthy rags....Until we understand this, we willl never apprecaite our need of a saviour

It is not that we have too low a self esteem but that we dont think badly enough of ourselves without God!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Mat 23:27-28)

What does being dead to God look like?
1. “following the course of this world” (v2)
Lead by peer pressure (the world) Copying others, not wanting to stand out, go with the flow....

Goes deeper than this - behind that peer pressure is the devil.
2. “following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” Enslaved to an alien power! NB devil is as close to us as the air we we cant escape = even as christians easy to embibe satanic attitudes.... This is a world of darkness - how at home do you feel in the world? disobedient to God. We end up with the devil inside us, and become his tool in his battle against God. There are two kingdoms in this world. If you feel at home in the world, you are most likely full of the spirit that inspires it. If it feels alien to you then perhaps you are a believer!

3. “lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind”
In the 21st Century West we live by unfettered desire - our modern culture is based on this! Money (NB the things money reprs), sex, power (promotion, to be the best, etc)
but also FOOD!
NB when we want what we dont get we war with others over it...

So Paul goes on to summarise
“by nature children of wrath” (v3)

BY NATURE sinners BUT WE ALSO CHOOSE TO SIN... FREE CHOICE.\ NO ONE EVER HAS TO TRAIN a child to sin! Sin has been inherited - "original sin" though there's nothing original about sin!

NB - "like the rest of mankind" - removes boasting! Helps us to understand history with all its wars etc

Helps us to understand the size of Gods grace and power -its depth
People live a miserable life - uninterested in God....
WE REBEL AGAINST THE HUMBLING CONCEPT OF THE GOSPEL WANT TO BE SELF SUFICIENT.....

One of the greatest phrases in the whole bible - “But God”
2. The MERCY of God - GOD'S Solution - “But God....by grace..through faith”

Not so much a theological theory of salvation, more a description of what happens to us when we believe!

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
-unmerited mercy undeserved. Not about what I have done, but grace from start to finish – he is RICH in mercy
-grace – because of the great love he has for us, made possible by what Jesus has done NOT
to show “the immeasurable riches of his grace”
by faith but THROUGH faith. Faith is a gift!

3. The Position of believer The Results for the Christian- “Saved, raised, seated in heavenly places”
exact opposite – once were dead, now you are ALIVE, once you were earthbound – following the ways of this world, now you are RAISED to heaven, once you were “walking” and if you were even aware of God you were trying desperately to please him whilst all the time failing in sin, now you are “SEATED” with him! ie - rest, completion, and victory!

– our position is now ABOVE the circumstances!
It is like God the Father looked in a grave saw a stinking corpse and said I want him to live and turned to his son and said will you go live on earth, die, and be raised so that he can live (based on Piper) He was UNITED IN OUR DEATH so we were UNITED IN HIS LIFE

Paul doesn't mention the death of Christ here, partly because he did briefly in chapter one, partly because they would have known about it and partly because the resurrection presupposes Jesus died!

Gods irresistible call that causes rebirth. There are many things I can do, and many things I cannot do. Raising the dead is firmly in the category of things I cant do! I cant save anybody!

BANCRUPTCY AS an example of this.....

Raised together with Christ SYN-Raised etc

How are we united with Christ?
1. as our representative - yes like if our head of state declares war , we are at war even if we disagree! ie he died and was raised on our behalf but also
2. mystical = actually incorporated in Christ’s body in some way... "I have been crucified....I died" (Gal)
3 experiential - We belong to heaven! We have a "second life"....
We can begin to experience the truth of this here and now - that is the role of the Spirit who is the "foretaste" -are you aware of His presence?

NB Must be one or the other....are you spiritually alive or dead? Imagine a doctor "mmm....I think he might be dead" no in between!

ARE you alive to God? Do you have a longing for his presence? Does your heart yearn for him?
If not, how can you be sure that you really are a Christian?

4. The Mission of the Christian “created for good works”
– our evangelism should be driven by a true state of how people are and gratitude for what God has done for us, but more than that for God's glory.
– there are things about God we would never have known if it weren’t for our salvation! Angels marvel at the church, more than creation!
– NB as we have said dead men cant resurrect themselves. It is ALL from God, and it is designed to stop up boasting!
– Good works don’t make us become a Christian, becoming a Christian makes us able to do good works!
– Tim Keller - religion I obey so I can be accepted. Christianity - I am accepted so I can obey...
DONT TURN FAITH INTO A FORM OF WORKS±
WE are NOT saved by faith. We are saved THROUGH faith. But BY grace.
Faith is not the cause of salvation, rather Jesus is.

We are shaped for righteous living,
--11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore rei