PT-2 "The Redeemer" from Eph. 1:6b

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/7/2018 9:37 AM

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  PT-2 “The Redeemer”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:6b

            Message of the verse:  “which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

            We have mentioned that the Father wants us to have everything that the Son has because of His love for us.  I realize that this is difficult for us to totally understand, but that is where faith comes in.  Once a person is born-again he still has the old nature or the flesh in him and even though the Spirit of God no lives within them they still have a propensity to sin and when they sin then they feel bad, and so have a hard time understanding the great love that the Father has for them, and yet the Father sees all believers through the eyes of His Son since He died for them.  Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:3 that He “has blessed us with every spiritual blessin in the heavenly places in Christ.  MacArthur adds “Every Christian is God’s beloved child because the Lord Jesus Christ has become our Redeemer.”

            The concept of the kinsman-redeemer is found in the Old Testament and it sets forth three qualifications: He had to be related to the one needing redemption, which makes him able to pay the price and also willing to pay the price.  As we look at the Lord Jesus Christ we see that He perfectly met these requirements.  In his commentary on this subject John MacArthur quotes a poet who expressed the magnificent reality of redemption in the following words:

“Near, so very near to God,

Nearer I could not be;

For in the person of His Son,

I’m just as near as He.

Dear, so very dear to God,

Dearer I could not be;

For in the person of His Son,

I’m just as dear as He.”

            One of the many reasons that I read John MacArthur’s commentaries is that many times he explains the Greek words that help me to understand the different passages much better.  He writes the following concerning the word “freely bestowed:” “Charitoo (freely bestowed) is from charis (grace, v. 6a), and therefore Paul is saying that God has graced us with His grace.  Christians are those who have been graced by God.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to live my life in a way where I realize that Christ has redeemed me from the slave market of sin.  I desire also to understand better that I have been graced by God.  I also want to mention the beautiful story found in the book of Ruth where the picture of the kinsman-redeemer is perfectly illustrated through the story of Boas redeeming Ruth, then marrying her having the grandparent of David who intern through his sons the Messiah, Jesus Christ was born.  Both Solomon and Nathan were a part of the a part of the birth line of Jesus Christ, Nathan brought forth in his line Mary and Solomon Joseph.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to trust the Lord that the herbs that I am not taking will take care of the problem that I have been experiencing with my “guts” will help me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “second John.”

Today’s Bible question:  “In Pharaoh’s dream what did the seven thin cattle represent?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/7/2018 10:02 AM

PT-1 "The Redeemer" (Eph. 1:6b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/6/2018 10:08 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus: The Redeemer

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference:  Ephesians 1:6b-10a

            Message of the verses:  “which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”

            In our last three SD’s we have actually been looking at the introduction to the verses that are seen above, and not in today’s SD we will begin to look at these verses.  John MacArthur entitles the main section we will be looking at in the next few days as “The Elements of Redemption.” MacArthur writes the following in his short introduction to this section “In this passage Paul mentions five elements of the redemption God offers fallen men through His Son, Jesus Christ:  the Redeemer, the redeemed, and the redemption price, results and reason.”  In today’s SD we will begin to look at “The Redeemer.”

            When we look at the first part of verse six we see “to the praise of the glory

of His grace,” and the word “grace” is the antecedent of “which.”  The synonyms of the word “antecedent” are “precursor,” “forerunner,” “ancestor,” “predecessor, and “forebear.”  It is in God’s grace, which can be described as “undeserved love and goodness” that God “freely bestowed on us in the Beloved,” and it is because that we are in Christ that we have redemption, something we have looked at a number of times.  It is Jesus Christ who is our Redeemer from sin.  John MacArthur writes that “the Beloved (the word indicates the One who is in the state of being loved by God, who Himself paid the price for our release from sin and death. Because we now belong to Christ, by faith made one with Him and placed in His Body, we are now acceptable to God.”  One of the things that I think about as I study this book so far is that all of this happened to me at the point of salvation and the only thing that I knew right away was that I was changed, and one of the reasons that I knew I was different was because I no longer had a desire to swear, something I did a lot.

            Matthew 3:17 states “and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."  The part of this verse that we want to focus in on is “This is My beloved Son.”  Those who have believed in Jesus Christ, that is believed in Him “He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” as found in Col. 1:13.  It is because that we are now in the Beloved that we too are beloved of God as seen in Romans 1:7 “to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Paul was talking about all of the believers who were in Rome, and all of them are beloved of God, and are called saints, so that means that all true believers are beloved of God and are called saints.  Believers are saints! It is true that only the Son has the inherent right to all the goodness of God, however because we are identified with Him by faith, that goodness is now also our goodness.  I think that this statement is very difficult for me to comprehend, because of the fact that I am a sinner, but God does not now see me as a sinner but sees me in His Son, who is perfect, who is beloved by the Father.  I believe this by faith, but as stated it is hard for me to comprehend, which is something that I want to do and that is one of the reasons that I am tackling this book of Ephesians because in this book, which is written about the Body of Christ, the church, Paul takes the time to show us all of these truths, truths that are so wonderful that they are hard to believe, and harder to put into practice.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Rachel” (Genesis 35:16-18).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which epistle is addressed ‘Unto the Elect Lady’?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/6/2018 10:51 AM

PT-3 "The Meaning of Redemption" (Eph. 1:6b-10a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/5/2018 9:11 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: PT-3 “The Meaning of Redemption”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 1:6b-10a

            Message of the verses:  “which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”

            In our last SD I promised to talk about another term for redemption, a term that once you see it may make you think of having someone pay a ransom to get a person out of being a slave.  MacArthur writes:  “The other term for redemption, lustroo (along with its related forms), meant to release from captivity.  It carried an even stronger meaning than agorazo and is behind the noun rendered here as redemption.  The word was used to refer to paying a ransom in order to release a person from bondage, especially that of slavery.”  When we go back to the original sin that took place in the Garden of Eden we know from Scripture that every person who was born through the loins of Adam is born a sinner.  When Jesus died on the cross to pay for our dept that we all owed because we are all sinners He purchased sinners from the slave market of sin that is all that have or will accept Him as their Savior and Lord.  In John 8:34 we read what Jesus said about this “"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”  Paul writes in Romans 3:10 “The scriptures endorse this fact plainly enough. There is none righteous, no, not one (Phillips).”  Paul writes later in Romans 7:14 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.”   In Romans 8:20 we see “The world of creation cannot as yet see reality, not because it chooses to be blind, but because in God’s purpose it has been so limited—yet it has been given hope (Phillips).”

            John MacArthur writes “Sin is man’s captor and slave owner, and it demands a price for his release.  Death is the price that had to be paid for man’s redemption from sin.  Biblical redemption therefore refers to the act of God by which He Himself paid as a ransom the price for sin.”

            Here is what Paul says in Romans 6:18 about redemption as “our having been freed from sin: and become “slaves of righteousness.”  We, who are believers in Jesus Christ, go from being slaves to sin to being slaves of righteousness.  That is truly a wonderful transition. 

            “3  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4  who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5  to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.”  (Galatians 1:3-5).  “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE (Gal. 3:13).”  “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1).”

“13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:13-14).”  As we look at these verse on redemption it seems that many of them come from the beginning of Paul’s letters, and it could be to first of all remind those believers that they surely have redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ.

            We have one more section from Scripture to look at and that comes from the book of Hebrews 2:14-15 “14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15  and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

            In our next SD, Lord willing, we will begin the next section “The Elements of Redemption,” and will begin by looking at the first sub-section under that main section “The Redeemer.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am so happy to be once again reminded of how it is that the Lord Jesus Christ saved me, as I suppose there are times when I take it for granted, and so it is good to be reminded what Christ did to save my soul so that I can praise Him for this great salvation.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to study this very wonderful, but difficult book of Ephesians as God is stretching me as I go through it.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Salt Sea” (Joshua 15:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was the mother of Benjamin?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/5/2018 10:00 AM

PT-2 The Meaning of Redemption from Eph. 1:6b-10a

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/4/2018 8:16 PM

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-2 The Meaning of Redemption

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 1:6b-10a

            Message of the verses:  “which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”

            I mentioned that in the original Greek language verse three through fourteen is one sentence.  That is a whole paragraph in my Bible.  Now we continue to look at different words that help us better to understand what it was that God did for us through Jesus Christ to provide salvation for those whom He chose in eternity past.

We begin this SD with the word “Huiothesia” which referred to the legal process of adopting a child, and this word was used by Paul to represent the believer’s adoption into God’s family.  We will look at some verses that go along with this process.

Romans 8:15 “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"”

Galatians 4:5 “so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Ephesians 1:5 “5  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,”

The next Greek word is “Katallasso” “meant to legally reconcile two disputing parties in court and in the New Testament is used of a believer’s reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ.” (John MacArthur”

Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 “18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  I can’t help but add verse 21 to this section:  “21  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

            John MacArthur writes the following “Two Greek legal terms are related to redemption.  Agorazo, and the related exagorazo, refer to buying or purchasing.  The source of the terms is agorazo and is behind the noun rendered here as ‘redemption.’ This word was used to refer to paying a ransom in order to release a person from bondage, especially that of slavery.” 

We have one more related word to look at which, Lord willing we will do in our next SD.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Demetrius” (Acts 19:25).

Today’s Bible question:  “What is the Dead Sea called in the Bible?

Answer in our next SD.

11/4/2018 8:48 PM

PT-1 "The Meaning of Redemption" (Eph. 1:6b-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/3/2018 2:17 PM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: PT-1 “The Meaning of Redemption”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 1:6b-10

            Message of the verses:  “which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”

            In this SD we will be looking at the verses mentioned which began a new chapter in John MacArthur’s commentary on Ephesians which is entitled “Redemption Through His Blood.”  In his very short introductory comments he concludes by writing “Redemption is one of the central themes of Scripture and of the book of Ephesians, but it carries much more than the idea simply of exchanging one thing for another of equal value.”

“The Meaning of Redemption”

            In this introduction we will be looking at some words which are used in the New Testament in relation to salvation, and then we will look at some verses which will help us understand the meaning of these words.

            The first word is Dikaioo and “this word and related terms referred to legal acquittal of a charge and are used theologically to speak of a sinner’s being vindicated, justified and declared righteous before God (MacArthur).”  Now we will look at some examples from different verses:

Romans 3:4 “May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, "THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED."”

Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”

Romans 5:18 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

1 Timothy 3:16 “By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”

The next word is Aphiemi and this word “basically means to send away, and this word was used to indicate the legal repayment or cancellation of a debt or the granting of a pardon.  This word is used in Scripture to refer to God’s forgiveness of sin” (MacArthur).

Matthew 9:2 “And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven."

Romans 4:7 “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.”

Ephesians 1:7 “7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

            I think that if we think about these words, and there are more to come, that it will help us understand better all that was involved for a sinner to be redeemed.  We will continue to look at more of these words in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to understand all of the words that speak of how the Lord redeemed me from sin and saved me to His glory.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to learn more of what was involved in my salvation.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Deuteronomy” (Matthew 4:1-11).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Sirs, you know that by this craft we have our wealth’?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/3/2018 2:51 PM

The Goal-Glory (Eph. 1:6a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/2/2018 11:29 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The Goal—Glory

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:6a

            Message of the verses:  “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”

            Today’s SD marks the end of the second main section from John MacArthur’s outline “The Elements of the Eternal Forming of the Body.”  This rather long section comes from what Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:4-6a, and was made up of seven sub-sections, the last we will look at today.  The name of this chapter in MacArthur’s commentary “The Body Formed in Eternity Past” shows us that God indeed did from the Body of Christ before the world began something that is impossible for the human mind to understand, yet that is what He did.  Today as we look at the last sub-section “The Goal—Glory” we see that this was all done to bring honor and glory to God the Son as this was actually a gift from God the Father as His bride, a bride which He paid for by His life. 

            I think that I have answered the question as to why did God do all of this for us.  He did this for His Son and since we are in Christ it was also done for us.  He did this for His glory as this is what He says in this first part of verse six.  Jesus said the following in Luke 12:32 “"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  Jesus was affirming the delight of God in putting His glory on display.  Paul writes the following in Philippians 3:13 “God is at work in [us]…for His good pleasure.” 

            John MacArthur writes “The apostle Paul interceded for the Thessalonians, praying ‘that our God may count you worthy of your calling…in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him’ (2 Thess. 1:11-12).

            I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that when Jesus was on earth and in a boat asleep while a great storm was brewing on the Sea of Galilee that His disciples woke Him because they were about to die and Jesus spoke to the storm and it stopped to the great surprise of His disciples.  The storm had no problem bringing glory to the Lord nor did the beast of the field or the heavens.  The problem is that the only created thing that does not bring glory to the Lord is the fallen angels and fallen men.  Paul writes about this in Romans chapter eight where he states “19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”  The creation got caught up in the sinfulness of man when man sinned in the garden and now longs to be released.

            John MacArthur writes “God chose and preordained the Body before the foundation of the world in order that no human being could boast or take glory for himself, but that all the glory might be His.  Salvation is not partly of God and partly of man, but entirely of God.  To guarantee that , every provision and every detail of salvation was accomplish before any human being was ever born or before a planet was formed on which he could be born.

            “The ultimate reason for everything that exists is the glory of His grace.  That is why, as God’s children, Christians should do everything they do—even such mundane things as eating and drinking—to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I think of the sins that cause me a lot of problems so that I do not always bring glory to the Lord I think of pride and selfishness (thinking of myself).  God hates pride and also selfishness for these sins certainly cause me not to bring glory to the Lord, therefore I am to continually have the Spirit of God search my heart to make sure that I understand where it is that I miss the mark.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Bring glory to God in all that I do.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “A hired servant” (Luke 15:19).

Today’s Bible question:  “From which book of the Pentateuch did Jesus quote during His contest with Satan?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/2/2018 12:05 PM

The Motive-Love (Eph. 1:4c-5a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/1/2018 11:20 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The Motive—Love

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 1:4c-5a

            Message of the verses:  “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons.”

            This section shows us that God elects those who are saved because of His Love, and we know that love is one of His attributes as John says “God is love.”  Deuteronomy 7:8 tells us “But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”  This shows us why God chose Israel to be His special people, and this is the same as He chose the church who are the family of the redeemed.

            I suppose that we have gone over what Biblical agape “love” is in the past.  Many people today do not understand that this is not an emotional kind of love, but it is a disposition of the heart to seek the welfare and also to meet the needs of others.  Jesus said in John 15:13 “"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”  After stating this Jesus did that very thing, and He did this in on behalf of those God has chosen to be saved.  John MacArthur writes “In the ultimate divine act of love, God determined before the foundation of the earth that He would give His only Son to save us.  ‘God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ’ (Eph. 2:4-5).  He loved us, and will eternally continue to love us, according to the kind intention of His will.”

The Result—Sonship

            We will look at one more section in today’s SD.  The result of God’s election in our “adoption as sons.”  This is another of the things which we have “in Christ,” as we become subject of His kingdom, and because He is our Lord we are His servants.  In John 15:15 Jesus states “"No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”  We are even more than slaves, and friends and servants for He makes us children.  It is an amazing thing what God does as he lovingly draws us (redeemed sinners) into the intimacy of His own family.  I suppose that at times we don’t think about this, nonetheless it is true and it is something that we all need to praise the Lord for.

            Let us look at what Paul has to say about this from Romans 8:15 “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"”  The term “Abba” in the Aramaic is what we would call “daddy” a term of love and affection.

            John MacArthur concludes this short sub-section by writing “To be saved is to have the very life of God in our souls, His own Spirit enlivening our spirits.  Human parents can aadopt children and come to love them every bit as much as the love their natural children.  They can give an adopted child complete equality in the family life, resources, and inheritance.  But no human aren’t can impart his own nature to an adopted child.  Yet that is what God miraculously does to ever person whom He has elected and who has trusted in Christ.  He makes them sons like His divine Son.  Christians not only have all of the Son’s riches and blessings but all of the Son’s nature.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I just have a great deal of trouble of wrapping my arms around the great love that God has for me even though I know that all of it is true.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to get a handle on my Sunday school lesson for this week as I am having trouble with it.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “In his hair” (Judges 16:19).

Today’s Bible question:  “What did the prodigal son want his father to make him?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/1/2018 12:05 PM