Ephesians 1:7-10

Today is day 3 of Week #1

Wednesday - Ephesians 1:7-10

Ephesians 1 - TNIV Audio - http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/multi/tniv/Eph.1




Scripture: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,  to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. TNIV Bible

Observation: God is lavish ~ The Ephesian believers were surrounded by the industry of idolatry. Many unbelievers made huge profits in the nearby temple of Diana. So Paul reminded the faithful Christians of the spiritual treasures God has lavished on them: redemption trough His blood, forgiveness of sins and the riches of God's grace.

God is a lavish giver, but His best gifts are often invisible: redemption, forgiveness, and grace.
[Taken from the TNIV True Identity Bible, page 1657]

Application: Without God's grace, no person can be saved. To receive his grace, we must acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves,that only God can save us. The only way for this to happen is to have faith in Christ. [NLT Life Application Bible]

For a Christmas gift, I received the book Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchvidjian.  I have not had the opportunity to dig into it yet. The focus is that our salvation totally rests on Jesus and not us.

Here is a quote from the book: "The bottom line is this, Christian: because of Christ's work on your behalf, God doesn't dwell on your sin the way you do. So, relax, and rejoice, and you'll actually start to get better. The irony, of course, is that it's only when we stop obsessing over our own need to be holy and focus instead on the beauty of Christ's holiness that we actually become more holy! Not to mention that we also start to become a lot easier to live with."

- Tullian Tchvidjian, Jesus + Nothing = Everything, page 184

Prayer: Father, I am glad that my salvation does not depend on me. If it did, I would be in big trouble. But my salvation depends on Jesus and what He did on Calvary. Words cannot express my thankfulness. In Jesus name, amen.



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