Salvation Summaries

I am going through each book in the New Testament (again) and writing bullet point comments about how a person becomes a Christian and how a Christian should live.  The following notes are from the book of Ephesians.

Summary

Because of God’s love for the people He created and His grace, He provided a way for us to be saved from our sins (see the section on sins, trespasses, transgressions and iniquity on the different degrees in which we do things contrary to what God requires or expects). God initiates the salvation “process” by “calling” or inviting people to become saved. Those who hear the gospel about Jesus and put their faith in Him become saved.

Upon becoming saved, that person becomes united with Jesus and receives God’s Holy Spirit. In addition, he/she becomes a member of God’s family and a citizen of heaven. Also, a Christian is joined with other believers to form a holy temple in which God’s Holy Spirit lives.

Although Ephesians has relatively little to say on how to become saved, it has a lot to say on how a believer should live. I’ve shown in bold font the items (in the section on How a Christian should live) that stood out the most to me.

How a person is saved (and other verses relating to salvation)

• God calls a person to become saved (Eph 4:1,4)
• You are saved by God’s grace and love.
  • Eph 2:4-5 says But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved).
• Salvation is a free gift from God. It is something He does for us; we cannot save ourselves.
• It is by His grace and through our faith in the Lord that we are saved (Eph 2:8-9)
• You come to know Jesus by hearing the gospel  to learn about Jesus (Eph 1:13, 2:8, 4:20). When you do this, you:
  • Receive the Holy Spirit, which is a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance and seals you for the day of redemption (Eph 1:14, 4:30).  These verses strongly support eternal security.
  • Become united with, or in, Christ (Eph 1:13).

Characteristics of a Christian

• Has faith in the Lord Jesus and love for the saints (Eph 1:15)
• Is one with Christ Jesus; is in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:13)
• Can approach God with freedom and confidence because of having faith in His Son (Eph 3:12)
• Citizen of heaven (Eph 2:19)
• Member of God’s family (Eph 2:19)
• Joined with other believers to form a holy temple in which God lives by His Holy Spirit (Eph 2:21-22; 3:7)
• God’s power is at work in a Christian (Eph 3:20)

Characteristics of non-Christians

• Spiritually dead from committing transgressions (trespasses) and sins (Eph 2:1)
  • gotQuestions.org defines these and related terms:
    • sin – it means to “miss the mark” and includes: doing something against God or against a person, doing the opposite of what is right, doing something that will have negative results, or failing to do something you know is right.
    • trespass – it means to “cross the line” or “climb a fence that you should not cross or climb.” It may be intentional or unintentional.  It can also mean to “fall away after being close beside.” The example given is of Peter when he denied Jesus.
    • transgression – it means to choose to intentionally disobey; it is willful trespassing. The example given is when we knowingly run a stop sign or tell a lie.
    • iniquity – it means “premeditated choice, continuing without repentance.” The example given is David’s sin with Bathsheba and the killing of her husband.  This article goes on to say that iniquity left unchecked leads to a state of willful sin with no fear of God, and continued iniquity leads to unnatural affections, which lead to a reprobate mind. A lifestyle of homosexuality would be an example of this .
• Follow the ways of this world (live in a worldly way) and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, which is Satan (Eph 2:2).  Satan is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
• Follow sinful desires and thoughts (Eph 2:3).  They give themselves over to sensuality and indulge in every kind of impurity (Eph 4:20)
• Gratify the cravings of their sinful nature (Eph 2:3)
• Separate from Christ (Eph 2:12) and God (Eph 4:18)
• Not a member of God’s family; thus, a foreigner, a stranger, an alien (so aliens are real!)(Eph 2:19)
• Live in spiritual darkness (Eph 5:8)

How a Christian should live

• No unwholesome talk (Eph 4:29)
• Do not be bitter, angry, brawl with others, slander others (Eph 4:31)
• Don’t get drunk on wine (Eph 5:18)
• Do not grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). Be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18)
• Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you (Eph 4:32)
• Be humble, gentle, patient
• Be imitators of God (Eph 5:1)
• Live a life of love (Eph 5:2)
• Speak to other believers with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord (Eph 5:19)
• Always give thanks to God the Father for everything (Eph 5:20)
• Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21)
• Live as children of light (the fruit of light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) (Eph 5:9)
• Having nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them (Eph 5:11)
• Only say what is helpful to build others up according to their needs (Eph 4:29)

• God saved Christians, those who are “in Christ,” in order that they might do good works, which God prepared in advance for them to do (Eph 2:10)
• Live a life worthy of the calling you have received (Eph 4:1)
• Understand what the Lord’s will is (those who don’t are foolish) (Eph 5:15)
• Find out what pleases the Lord and live in that way (Eph 5:10)
• Christians are to build up the church, the body of Christ, until they become mature and full grown in Jesus (Eph 4:13).  They are to become more and more like Christ and to help other believers grow or mature in their faith. This takes effort. (Eph 4:15)
• Christians are to no longer live the way of the ungodly (or the way they used to live), for the ungodly have hardened hearts.  They have given themselves over to sensuality and indulge in every kind of impurity.  Christians are to put off their old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires and to put on the new self with a new attitude. This takes effort. (Eph 4:19-24).
• In a Christian’s life there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity or of greed, as these are improper for God’s holy people (Eph 5:3). No immoral, impure or greedy person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph 5:4-6)
• A Christian husband is to love his wife just as much as Christ loved the church (Eph 5:25); Christ gave up His life for the church.  He is to love or take care of his wife as much as he loves and cares for his own body (Eph 5:28)
• Christians are to put on the full armor of God in order to stand against the devil’s schemes. Included in this is the Bible and ongoing prayer. (Eph 6:10-18)

Who God is

• Created all things (Eph 3:9)
• Father of Jesus (Eph 1:3)
• Giver of blessings to Christians (Eph 1:3)
• Loves the people He created (Eph 2:4)
• Kind (Eph 2:7)
• Merciful (Eph 2:4)
• He raised Jesus from the dead (Eph 1:20).
• God put all things under the authority of Jesus (Eph 1:22)

Who Jesus is

• Seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms (Eph 1:20)
• Far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world (Eph 1:21)
• Has authority over all things for the benefit of the church, his body (Eph 1:22-23)
• Fills everything everywhere with His presence (Eph 1:23)
• The One who gives Jews and Gentiles access to the Father through the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18).  Those who are in Christ and have faith in Him may approach the Father (Eph 3:12)
• By His death He ended the system of Jewish laws that excluded the Gentiles (Eph 2:15)

Other

• Marriage is between one man and one woman.  Marriage is a spiritual union in which the two become one flesh (Eph 5:31).
• Two prayers by Paul
  • He prays that the God of the Lord Jesus Christ may give other believers the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they may know Him better. (Eph 1:17).He prays that the eyes of their heart become enlightened so they know the hope (future) to which God has called them (Eph 1:18).
  • He prays that God the Father will strengthen the believers with power through the Holy Spirit.  He prays that Christ will be more and more at home in their hearts. And He prays that they may have the power to understand how wide and long and high and deep God’s love really is (Eph 3:16-18).

Interpreting Ephesians 1

From reading various authors and commentaries, there are at least three different interpretations of Ephesians chapter 1, which uses the terms “chose,” “chosen” and “predestined.”

1) Calvinists believe that before God created the world, He chose who would be a Christian and predestined them for salvation; those He did not chose are predestined for hell. The former are the elect; the latter are not. According to this view, a person has no role in his or her salvation, and thus cannot do anything to become saved or unsaved.

2) Some Arminians believe that the chosen and predestined in this chapter refer not to individuals God has chosen, but to the church body, which represents those who are in Christ.  Thus, if you believe and are in Christ, you are thereby chosen and predestined for salvation.

3) Another group believes that in most of chapter 1, Paul is speaking to Jews, or the land of Israel. In 1:13, Paul transitions to other part of his audience, Gentile Christians.

As of now, I believe the third interpretation is more accurate than the other two.  Paul is clearly speaking to two different groups, and this can best be seen from reading the New Living Translation.  One group represents the Jews who have become Christians; they are the “us”, and Paul refers to them in 1:1-1:12. They were the chosen people and the first to hope in Christ. The other group represents Gentiles who have also become Christians; they are the “you” and Paul refers to them next, in 1:13-2:13.  In 2:14-18, Paul refers to both groups (“us Jews and you Gentiles”).