We Who Believe Are Freed From Sin And Enslaved To God

Laurel Bible Church

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actually comes out of Romans chapter 6 verse 22, but we're going to be spending our time mostly today in Ephesians chapter 2.

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So if you have your Bible or and nowadays I have to say if you have your copy of God's Word, open that to Ephesians chapter 2.

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It's going to be a familiar chapter, especially some of it, and it's a very interesting chapter to preach.

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So we'll start with prayer. Oh Lord, we thank you. We thank you for our time this morning.

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We thank you for Ephesians chapter 2, which gives us such a clear image of justification and how,

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Lord, we are made blameless before you. We thank you for the atoning death of your

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Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross, which gives us the opportunity to share a life with Christ and to be spotless before you when we stand before you at the judgment seat of the judgment seat of Christ.

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So this morning, Lord, bless your church, sharpen our minds, and soften our hearts to your

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Word as we study, as we engage in knowing you and knowing your

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Son better and better. Amen. Okay, now before we get there,

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I want to look briefly at what Paul writes to the Ephesian believers at the end of chapter 1.

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If you look in chapter 1, beginning at verse 18, we find Paul praying that each believer would be enlightened, and so I'm going to emphasize that word, enlightened.

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He wants each believer to be enlightened to the hope of Christ's calling, to the riches of the glory of Christ's inheritance in the saints, and to the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe.

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Now, what is Paul talking about? What is the surpassing greatness of the power of Christ toward us who believe?

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Paul examines this question and he indicates the strength of God's might was demonstrated in Christ when, in fact,

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God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand in heavenly places, far above all rule and far above all authority and power and dominion.

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This was the greatness of God's power toward us because God put all things in subjection under his feet and made him, that is,

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Christ the head of the church. So what does that mean for us as the church?

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And Paul goes on to explore this in chapter 2 of Ephesians. So if we look at chapter 2,

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I'm going to read the first couple of verses here and we'll carefully kind of look at what

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Paul is saying. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of air of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

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Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.

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So as we begin here in chapter 2, we have to take a step back before we can move forward.

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Paul begins chapter 2 by reminding us of where we were before our conversion.

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We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were physically alive, but we were spiritually dead.

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Now the Bible describes our dead spiritual condition in many ways. We were blind to the gospel, that's 2nd

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Corinthians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4. We were a slave to sin, that's

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Romans chapter 6 verse 17. We were a lover of darkness, that's

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John chapter 3 verses 19 and 20. We were even physically sick as a result of sin, that's

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Mark chapter 2 verse 17. We were spiritually lost, that's

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Luke chapter 15. We were aliens, we were we were strangers, we were foreigners to God, that's

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Ephesians chapter 2, 12 and 19. And we were children of wrath, that was

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Ephesians which we read already chapter 2 verse 3. And we were under the power of darkness, that's

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Colossians chapter 1 verse 13. We were dead in our trespasses which speaks of our rebellion against God and we were dead in our sin which speaks of our failures which are sinful, falling short of God's holiness and his sinless nature.

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But at one time we lived and we walked in sin according to Satan who

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Paul identifies as the prince of the power of the air. In short,

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Satan had influence over us when we formerly walked and lived according to the lusts of the flesh.

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We are reminded here by Paul that our enemies are the flesh, the devil, and the world.

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And by our nature Paul declares that we are children of wrath, not children of God but children of wrath before we came to know the

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Lord. All of this he speaks to the believers at the church of Ephesus.

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He's not speaking this to the unbelievers, he's speaking this to the believers reminding them of where they were.

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Now if we look at Ephesians chapter 4 or chapter 2 verse 4, but God being rich in mercy, here

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Paul turns the corner and it's a big corner to turn, but 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.

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By grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with Christ in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in the kindness and in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

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Oh wow that's much easier to preach isn't it? Well all of Paul's discouraging remarks in verses 1 through 3 are now in stark contrast with the encouragement that he gives us in verses 4 through 7.

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God turns his attention on us. He does this because of who he is.

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His character defines him as being rich in mercy. He demonstrates unmerited favor toward us that even when we were dead in our transgressions he made us alive with his son

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Jesus Christ. He raised us up with Christ and he seated us with Christ in heavenly places.

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What great news is that? In other words he declared us as righteous holy and blameless.

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He justified each of us who call upon his name solely on the basis of the obedience and death of his son on the cross.

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The righteousness of Christ is written on our side of the ledger as a legal declaration that we are righteous before a holy

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God. God erases our sin. He separates our sin as far as the east is from the west and he separates our failures and places the righteousness of his son in the sinner's account.

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Paul gives us an example of this in Romans chapter 4 where we are told that the faith of Abraham our father was credited to him as righteousness and it says there in Romans 4 not only for Abraham's sake only was it written that it was credited to him but for our sake also to whom it will be credited as those as those who believe in him that is

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God the father who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead he who was delivered to he who was delivered over because of our transgressions was raised because of our justification and that's

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Romans chapter 4 verses 22 through 25. I love to think of being raised with him that is being raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places.

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Wow isn't that a great thought? We don't sit with Christ Jesus in heavenly places quite yet but we live with him and we are identified with him so as he sits in heavenly places so do we even now.

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Wow that's amazing that's what Paul is telling us here. Why does

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God do this for us? Because of his great love for which he loves each of us.

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Is this because we are so lovable? I think

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I can safely say no it isn't because we are so lovable but because his character is love we are his creation and in his sovereign plan he demonstrates his love toward us.

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All of this so that in ages to come he might show the surpassing richness of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

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It is for his exceeding glory that for ages to come his grace and kindness will be evident through his church for as Paul includes in verse 5 by grace we have been saved.

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We are saved by grace through faith alone which is God's unmerited favor toward us.

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And it brings us to some of the most familiar passages in the

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Bible and that is Ephesians 2 8 through 10. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God not as a result of works that so so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which

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God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. These three verses are among the most among my most favorite verses in the entire

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Bible. They are so clear like looking into a crystal clear pool of water all the way to the bottom.

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Paul wants us to know exactly how we are saved. He wants us to be enlightened.

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We go back to that verse in in chapter 1 where he said I wish that all of you were enlightened.

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He wants us to be enlightened. The gospel is not some murky doctrine that cannot be seen or understood and in no way do we contribute to it.

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Paul cannot speak of the richness and the extravagance of God's grace without declaring that his grace not without declaring that all of this is a gift of God.

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In the original Greek the word it when it says it is a gift from God the word it refers to salvation not not to faith that is salvation is a gift of God and faith is true but here it's a direct reference to salvation.

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It is clear that salvation comes by grace given to an undeserving people.

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Paul declares that the power of that grace is capable of saving those who believe and trust in his son

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Jesus Christ. Faith is not a work but it is also a gift given by God and therefore one cannot deny that salvation comes completely from God and in no way from ourselves.

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There is no work that can or will lead us to heaven and if by grace we are joined with Christ and we are identified with him there is nothing that can separate us from his love and redemption.

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We are saved not merely as a way to avoid God's wrath but rather as a beautiful work of God.

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The word here workmanship translates in the Greek from the word poema which literally means beautiful poem or work of art.

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God's love meets us right where we are at but at the same time it's a transforming love that takes us where we should go.

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We are a new life in Christ a new creation a work of art in God's hands.

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Spurgeon the famous British preacher said the spiritual life cannot come to us from development of the old nature.

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I've heard a great deal about development and evolution but I am afraid that if any one of us were to be developed to our utmost apart from the grace of God we should come out worse than before the development began.

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I love that quote. Evolution is not going to lead us to being any it's not going to lead us to be greater or better for apart from the grace of God we're

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Spurgeon says we're only going to get worse. Oh that's great maybe that was a little cynical but I think it probably was true.

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God is doing a beautiful thing with us through his good works which he prepared beforehand.

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These works are also a part of his predestined plan and they define us as belonging to him for here

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Paul joins with James in declaring the validity of these good works.

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James says that faith without works is dead that's James chapter 2 verse 26.

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For how can we be his workmanship without walking in the works that were prepared for us by God himself?

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You ask that question how can we how can we be his workmanship if we don't walk in the works that were prepared for us by himself?

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As Jesus declared in John 15 I am the vine you are the branches he who abides in me and I in him he bears much fruit from apart from me you can do nothing.

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Ephesians chapter or verse 11 follow with me there therefore remember that formally well maybe

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I should introduce this Paul takes us back he starts us with where we were before we were converted then he gives us this glorious passage and now he takes us back again so we have to kind of prepare mentally for that now remember that formally you the gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by the so -called circumcision which is performed in the flesh by human hands remember that you were at that time separate from Christ you were excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and you were strangers to the cut to the covenants of the promise having no hope and without God in the world but now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh the in the enmity which is the law of the commandments contained in the ordinances so that in himself he might make the two into one new man thus establishing peace and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross by having it put to by having put to death the enmity interesting passage there isn't it after all of this glorious teaching

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Paul once again goes back to remind us of our previous state he reminds us of our previous position before Christ we were formerly gentiles apart from the commonwealth of Israel but more importantly we were separated from our savior

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Jesus Christ at that time we had no hope and we were without God in the world to be without Christ means to be without spiritual blessing to be without light to be without peace to be without rest to be without safety to be without hope to be without a prophet to be without a priest to breathe to be without a king but in Christ we are no longer far off but we're brought near for he is our peace he is our hope he is our safety he is our comfort he is our salvation he is capable of reconciling both the

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Jew and the Gentile to himself and to make them into one people

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I remember talking to one of my shirt sleeve relatives who likes to emphasize that there is over 2 000 denominations among the

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Christians and nobody agrees on anything and I said to him

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God is bringing his people into one people under one spirit under one lord under one

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Jesus Christ who died and was resurrected for all the saints how can that be he said well our conversation kind of ended right there but oh

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I didn't know quite where to go from from there Paul quotes

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Isaiah 57 verse 19 and that verse says and he came that is

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Christ he came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near for through Christ we have access in one spirit to the father this is a beautiful scriptural depiction of the holy trinity all three persons of the trinity are clearly at work to bring peace and unity and reconciliation to God's people that is through Jesus the son we have access to one spirit that is the holy spirit and through the holy spirit we have access to one father that is

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God the father through one God both Jews and Gentiles are brought into one body where we have unity in Christ and that's what

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Paul is talking about here those who truly have given their life to Christ Jesus our lord whether they be

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Jew or Gentile Ephesians verse 17 and we talked a bit about that and he came and preached peace to you who are far away and peace to those who were near for through him

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Christ Jesus we both have access our access in one spirit to the father verse 19 so then you are no longer strangers and aliens but you are fellow citizens with the saints and you are of God's household having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets

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Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the lord in whom you are also being fitted together into a dwelling of God in the spirit we have looked at justification by grace alone through faith alone through the atoning work of Christ who became sin so that we might be freed from sin but now that we've looked at justification

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I want to spend a little time on sanctification but what what happens after we are justified do we cease to sin well no we don't stop sinning but John writes my little children

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I am writing these things to you that you may not sin and if anyone sins we have an advocate with the father

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Jesus Christ the righteous one he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for those of the whole world by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments that's from first John in short

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John pleads with us to be sanctified this process of sanctification addresses the dominion and the corruption of sin in our lives justification is

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God declaring the sinner as righteous sanctification is God's renewing and transforming work in us until we die this transformation of the whole person our mind our will our affections our behaviors and in this process of sanctification we are united to Jesus Christ we are in him and he in us our identity is united with his our work if you will is to obey

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Christ to walk by the spirit and not by the flesh and to yield good fruit by good works which were created in Christ Jesus so that we might walk in them by all of this we can say because you are sons

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God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your heart crying

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Abba father therefore you are no longer a slave but you are a son and if you are a son then you are an heir through God that's

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Galatians chapter four verses six and seven so what can we say then how does all of this work itself out in the real life of the believer

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Paul looks at this in earnest in these last verses of Ephesians chapter two first of all we can say that we are no longer strangers and aliens we are no longer foreigners but we're members of God's kingdom we are in fact fellow citizens with the saints we are of God's household we're not second -class citizens in any way but citizens with equal access to God compared even to the

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Israelites who were God's chosen people because we are all of one body with access to one spirit it also fits that we have been built on one common foundation and that foundation is the original foundation laid by the apostles and the prophets and is firmly set in the new testament and Christ Jesus is the cornerstone literally the capstone or the stone in the corner which binds all of the stones together the one which cements the entire building into one stable unit the most important stone in the structure that articulates with all the other stones and holds them all together the church then is a quote building unquote

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I put that in quotes and in it's it's a building in process whose architect is

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God God is building his church for his glory and for his purposes it's not a random pile of stones but it's a precise collection of saints being fitted together for God's glory it is not a church building at all but it's a precise collection of committed saints being placed together to serve a gracious God the church is a dwelling place where God lives it's not an empty house or a museum but it's a place for the living

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God with each believer in dwelt with the spirit of the living

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God and Paul tells us the church is a holy temple in the

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Lord holy and set apart by God we are as Peter declares a royal priesthood we are a holy nation we are a nation for God's own possession and as such we are to offer ourselves as a spiritual sacrifice and as the author of Hebrews declares through him

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Christ Jesus then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of lips that gives thanks to his name that's

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Hebrews 13 15. Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters by the mercy of God to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you might prove what the will of God is that which is good and acceptable and perfect that's

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Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. When Solomon's temple was built it said that the stones were quarried and they were cut far from the temple site they were then carried and fitted in and built into the final structure of the temple and so it is with us

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God is chiseling us from his quarry and he's fitting us perfectly to build his church there are many depictions of the church in the new testament but if you look here in Ephesians 19 through 22 this is really my favorite.

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Now I want to end with a parallel passage in Romans chapter 3 where Paul talks about again justification and sanctification and there

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Paul says this he says but now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe for there is no distinction for all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by his grace through redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom

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God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith all of this was to demonstrate his righteousness

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God justifies justifies us once we declare