To the Saints and Believers

The point: Live a life separated unto God, reflecting His glory and doing His will, as this is the whole end for which God manifested Himself in the gospel.

The story of Moses at the burning bush is used to illustrate that 'holy' initially referred to something set apart for God's special use, not necessarily possessing inherent moral purity.

What did Paul have in mind when he sat down to write this letter, and he said, now, I write as Paul, I write as an apostle, I'm going to write to the church at Ephesus, how shall I address them? What is there about their character as Christians that I want most to bring into focus as I address myself to them? And the first word he comes up with is this word, to the saints. Now, what was in the mind of the apostle when he wrote that? What is the meaning of that word, saint? Well, very briefly, the roots of this word go back into Old Testament times, when someone or something was set apart for s...

9:31 - 10:52 Read in full sermon

Driving home: This phrase, in Christ Jesus, may without exaggeration be called the most important one in all the Pauline epistles.

Martin quotes William Hendrickson, a New Testament commentator, who calls 'in Christ Jesus' the 'most important one in all the Pauline epistles,' to underscore its profound significance.

Now here's a man writing who has painstakingly gone through the New Testament, with a fine-tooth comb many, many times, and has written what I feel to be one of the two or three most helpful commentaries on the New Testament to be found anywhere. Because he writes as a man who was a pastor for 20 years, and then a teacher of pastors for many more years. And this is what he says about this phrase. This phrase, in Christ Jesus, may without exaggeration be called the most important one in all the...

22:44 - 23:20 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Union with Christ is really the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation. Not only in its application, that is, when God saves me in time, but also in its once-for-all accomplishment in the finished work of Chris…

Martin reads several pages from Professor John Murray's 'Redemption Accomplished and Applied' to provide a comprehensive and clear exposition of the doctrine of union with Christ, emphasizing its centrality and broad scope.

In other words, as I said in introducing our study this morning, the presence of this little phrase, when Paul delineates who is receiving this letter, introduces us to the great biblical theme of union with Christ Jesus. And God willing, as we attempt to work through this first paragraph, beginning with verse 3, and subsequent studies, I hope to go into much greater detail as to the significance of this phrase. But this morning I want to introduce some very basic thoughts concerning this phrase, which may help as a building block in our understanding of what Paul is thinking of when he uses t...

25:08 - 26:29 Read in full sermon